Give and Recieve
by AndersenYuki4404
Summary: As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely. Sequel to Fun and Games
1. Recieve

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Note- This time, I've made the rating an M— in case I decide to do a lemon somewhere along the line. Still not sure if I will, but better safe than sorry, thanks!

Chapter 1: Receive

**Zane's POV**

My hands were numb from clutching to the exam table. The breath narrowly escaping past my lips as I recovered from an invisible punch. I couldn't believe the words the doctor had just said, but at the same time, I knew I had heard him clear as day. The feeling was more agonizing then I could have ever imagined.

And all the doctor could do was look 'sympathetic'. "I'm sorry it came to this Zane, but I think it's important for you to know that when your aneurysm occurred—we didn't think you'd even make it?"

"And that makes it better?" I asked rhetorically. The doctor had no answer; he just started at me with the sad, dumb, look on his face. "Dueling is my life; it's what I've always wanted to do. And now you're telling me I can't?"

Today was supposed to be the day I'd get my clean bill of health. Something to show the pro league that I was okay to duel again. This was just—too soul-crushingly ironic. I was expecting to walk away with a seal of approval to duel. Instead, I was given a choice of dueling or death.

"With the current state of your heart, you could have a heart-attack if you duel. You may be able to duel in year or so, but…." The doctor paused, and I glared at him. He had already said it, might has well repeat it. "It's even more possible that you'll never be able to duel again."

"I'll finish signing your prescription. I am very sorry…But at least you're alive." He turned and left me alone to wallow in my sorrow. The feeling was starting to come back into my hands but I couldn't appreciate it. It felt like I was robbed.

What was I going to do with my life now? Sit around and watch t.v.? Get an office job? Neither one sounded appealing.

It felt like my life was over.

My spirits picked up slightly when I entered the waiting room and saw Aster Phoenix; sitting cross-legged in a chair reading a gossip magazine; his face seemed more amused by the ridiculousness of these stories rather then the information he received. When I walked up to him, he looked up and smiled.

"How'd it go?" Aster asked. There weren't a lot of times when I wished I could keep something from my young boyfriend. I knew him well enough to know that any secret I kept would make him mad. I also knew it would hurt him, and I loved him too much to want to inflict any kind of pain on him. The only the past few months of my life have been bearable and even enjoyable was because he was living with me.

But this was hard for me to handle. Aster had gotten his clean bill of health almost a month ago. He had managed to wean himself off his pain medication—and it's been awhile since he's needed his anxiety pills. I felt a twinge of guilt and jealously. Guilt because I had been the reason he had to take a break from dueling in the first place, jealous because he had recovered from it and I hadn't.

He frowned when I took too long to answer. I couldn't tell him the truth, but couldn't lie either. "Zane, what's wrong?"

"Can we just leave, please?" I said, knowing if I didn't, I'd have a panic attack in front of everyone. And if their day was anything like mine, that was the last thing they needed.

He put down the magazine and got up. "Okay, that's fine. Let's go."

()

I explained to Aster what had happened while riding in the back of our chauffeured car. It's been awhile since I've felt well enough to drive and Aster didn't have his license, though he did have his learner permit (he had decided to learn to drive after his injuries had healed). Right now, I was too upset to watch him while he drove and he felt more obligated to tend to me, than have the chauffeur give him pointers.

"Oh god, Zane…That really sucks." He said in the most comforting way possible. I appreciated the fact that he didn't try to cover it with 'I'm sorry' or something else uncharacteristic. His honesty was one of the many things I liked about him. "How likely is it that you won't ever duel again?"

I sighed, my voice heavy with depression. "He didn't exactly say, but it sounded pretty damn likely."

"But there's a chance?" He asked hopefully. At least someone was holding on; I didn't try to fight what had happened. Really, I was lucky that I got what time I did get to duel. I did shock my body half to death more times than I cared to count. Aster took my expression for an answer and leaned back. "You know, maybe if you can't duel anymore, you could take up a coaching position. That wouldn't be too bad would it?"

Bad? No. But it wouldn't be good enough either. Not when you've spent all your childhood preparing to go to duel academy, all your time at duel academy preparing for the pro leagues, and destroying yourself when you reached the pro leagues. I didn't want someone else to achieve that dream, I wanted to achieve it. Now it was all slipping through my fingers.

We stopped in front of our apartment complex, but Aster didn't get out. "I have to run an errand."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to go with you?" He leaned over to kiss my cheek. His warm lips momentarily numbing any pain I felt.

"You need to rest; I'll be home in a little while, okay?" I nodded gently and kissed his lips gently. There was a lot of relief in conveying my emotions in a physical matter. And I needed this kind of therapy. But he pulled away slowly and smiled wickedly. "I'll hurry back."

"You better." I said in a husky tone. A smile drew across my lips for the first time that night. I closed the car door and entered the apartment. I briefly stopped to get the mail and made the elevator ride up to my apartment. I wasn't as depressed as before but it was still swirling in my head. I still felt angry and sad about what had happened. And I wasn't sure if that feeling would ever go away. Could I only hope that it'd get better?

When I entered the apartment, I set the mail on the coffee table and dropped onto the couch. My hands running over my face and through my hair. Out of the mail stack, something caught my attention. It was a transparent DVD case with an unmarked disc in it. I picked it up to get a better look at it. There was no mailing address on it. Someone must have dropped it off personally.

I almost didn't watch it, but figured it must have good if someone took the time to drop it off. I got up and put it in the DVD player. It came on just as I sat back down on the couch.

A girl appeared. She was no older than 20 but no younger than 16. Long, stringy black hair draped over her body, but through that I could see that her figure was a little boyish. She was thin, but her hips and breasts barely stuck out. Yet, her blue eyes held a cat like shape that only a woman could posses. It didn't go beyond my notice that she was taller than most women were. She was dressed in a black top and a plaid skirt with black tights underneath.

"Hello Mr. Truesdale!" She said with an enthusiastic but nervous smile. "My name is Evelyn Frances and well, I'm a huge fan! I love watching you duel." Yeah, join the club sweetheart.

"Anyway, I know this is highly unusual, but I'd like to think of this as an audition… I sent this video in hopes of becoming your apprentice, a protégée if you will." I leaned forward as she continued to speak. "I want to learn everything from you and hopefully with your help, become a dueling sensation. And before you toss this aside, I'd like to show you footage of my previous dueling experiences."

The video switched over to a duel arena. Evelyn was dueling against various people and—doing it quite well. It was obvious the girl had a lot of potential, but there were moments where I could see how she would need improvement. She wasn't a super star yet; but she defiantly had the stuff to be one.

As I watched her, I was reminded of Aster when he was around 15. How confident and cocky he was. Not only did he think he was the best; he thought he owed the duel arena. This girl held herself a similar way and although for an amateur it could be a little annoying, she did it in a way that was a little charming. The video switched back to her.

"If you're interested at all, please call 188-555-0407 between March 12th and March 26th." March 12th was today's date. "Otherwise, I'll assume you don't want to participate. I hope to hear from you soon, and if not, thanks anyway for watching!"

The T.V. went black as I shut the t.v. off. I squeezed the remote in my hand. Hadn't Aster suggested that I take a coaching job? Maybe this was a sign or something. She did have a lot of talent and I would hate for someone to miss out on an opportunity that I ruined for myself.

I wasn't sure if I would call her. But I wrote the number down on a piece of junk mail, and gave myself the night to think about it. Even though in my head, I already knew what my decision would be.

**Aster's POV**

The ring shinned against the velvet red pillow. It was just like new. The gold clean and a healthy yellow while the symbols were deep and edged in perfection. It was just as amazing as when my father wore it on his own finger.

"I assumed you're pleased with the restoration, Mr. Phoenix?" The Jeweler asked me. This being the same Jeweler from whom Zane bought my Phoenix necklace, and then had rebuilt after Ollie's hit and run. My pocket watch was like new and it inspired me to have my father's favorite ring (besides his wedding ring) restored.

This ring was a gift from my mother from when she was pregnant with me. She had given it to him as a symbol for change; the beginning of their family, and a future which shimmered just as brightly as gold. My father wore it everyday on his left hand, promising me everyday that I would receive it when I was old enough.

"Very pleased." I agreed. I picked up the ring—treating it like expensive glass. Around the outside the Latin phrase _Te valde amo ac simper amabo_ was inscribed. The phrase bore a simple meaning. _I love you very much, and always will forever. _I picked it for both my dad and Zane. It was similar to the things my father said to me when he would tuck me into bed or I was upset about something; yet it easily translated into the things Zane said to me after we made love or we were caught up in a moment. It was nice without being too sappy. "I'm sure he'll love it."

"If you don't mind me asking…Is this a…engagement ring?" The jeweler asked meekly. I felt a laugh choke up my throat. I wasn't the marrying type. I valued my independence too much for that and I'm sure Zane felt about the same. Honestly, it just seemed kind of pointless when we were happy the way we were.

Yet, why did I pick this ring and leave my dad's wedding ring untouched? Was there a part of me that would consider marriage one day? No, I didn't think so. It was probably more of a personal thing. My dad's wedding ring belonged too much to him to let go. This ring felt like it was half mine since it was to celebrate my birth.

"No, it's just kind of a 'thanks-for-being-around' ring. I'm not really looking to bag a husband." The jeweler nodded and put the ring in a neat little box.

"I understand, it's just usually if someone doesn't have a lot of money or if they want a proposal to be more sentimental they'll have an old family ring restored." He handed me the box—it felt like a ton in my hand. "Thank you once again for your business."

I nodded and put the ring box in my jacket pocket. Maybe this would pick Zane's spirits up a bit. I figured that the doctor would probably make him wait out the season before he could duel again—I didn't think he'd tell him to prepare for retirement. I think the biggest thing about it was that Zane had done it to himself (well, okay Ollie had his part, but Zane's heart wasn't healthy before it happened). He was almost 22, and his dueling career was over.

Actually, he was ten days away from being 22. That was the whole reason I had the ring restored. It was going to be his birthday present. Now I was wondering if I should give it to him early.

I was pleasantly surprised however when I arrived home. Zane pushed me against the door and claimed my lips in a passionate kiss. I was afraid he would feel the ring box, but he seemed oblivious to that.

I shivered as he licked my lips. "Someone's feeling better…"

"Let's just say I have a lot of energy and I need you to get rid of it." There was a dark almost desperate look in his eyes. He was still sad, but his anger and … renewed hope? Was driving him now. This would be a long night.

"I think I can comply…" I gently pushed him back and forced him to sit on the couch. I placed my knees on the outside of his legs and draped my arms around him.

I decided to give him a bit of a show—after all, he was feeling down. Plus, it was a good way to get rid of the ring before he noticed. I brought my hand on to my shoulder and gently rubbed underneath it. Zane watched with hunger as I slipped the jacket from one should than the other. It fell to the ground and away from his touch. The ring's secret would be safe for now.

I started unbuttoning my shirt, going about as slow as I could go. Zane began to grow frustrated which made me smirk. I was on the second button.

"Impatient are we?"

"Take the damn shirt off Aster." He said in a thirsty voice. I laughed gently in his ear and freed my second button.

"Why do I have to do everything? If you want it off…you take it off." I gently nipped at his earlobe which pushed him off the edge. His hands grabbed my shirt and ripped it a part. He threw it away from my body and grabbed my waist, forcing me down on the couch.

He pinned over me, kissing my lips until they bruised. I moaned excited for the night we had in store. "I'm going to make you rethink those words hero…"

I can guarantee you right now, they'd be no thinking. Only a strong emotion of passion, a lot of it.

**Here's the first chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it. Many of the reviews for Fun and Games have inspired the plotline for this story, so thank you again for your constant support!**


	2. New Beginnings

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 2: New Beginnings

**Aster's POV**

My original plan wasn't to leave the apartment today. I had been working so hard on my comeback; I've hardly been home at all. But I got a call around 9 to meet Sirena at a café. Zane didn't seem to mind.

"I have an appointment anyway." Zane said as I was brushing my teeth. For whatever reason, he was looking over his past decks and extra cards. "I thought about what you said and I think you're right. I think I'm going to take up a coaching opportunity."

I was surprised by how enthused he sounded about the opportunity. Much happier than he was yesterday. I spit out the tooth paste. "Do you already have someone in mind?"

"Maybe, right now I'm just meeting with her."

"Oh_ her_?" I asked, rising off my tooth brush. A playful smile pulled at my lips as I walked out to the living room. "Are you getting bored with boyfriends for awhile?"

Zane seemed to have a preference for men, but he had once told me that he found women to be attractive too. In fact, his first kiss was from a girl. He chuckled. "Yes, that's exactly it. This whole I can't duel anymore thing is an elaborate hoax to date girls."

I wrapped my arms around him and made my voice high. "Oh Mr. Truesdale, you're my favorite duelist!"

He laughed almost uncontrollably. "Pretty dead on… Wonder how you'd look in a dress."

"Not on your grave." I growled, walking towards the doorway.

He continued his teasing. "Maybe some hair extensions, you'd be the prettiest girl at the ball."

"Zane, you're not funny."

"You started it." I put my shoes on and opened the door.

"I'll see you later; have fun with your 'appointment'."

"You too, Asterina."

I glared at him and his pathetic joke. "Nice try, Aster's already a girl's name...You can thank my dad for that one."

()

Sirena was sitting in a booth when I arrived at the restaurant. For whatever reason, I had expected Sartorius or Larius to be with her but she was alone. I noticed the worried look in her eyes and felt concern wash over me.

"Hey." Sirena lit up when I sat across from her. A red smile coming across her lips.

"Thank you for meeting with me. I have a very large favor to ask of you." She said carefully. I was shocked; Sirena didn't ask for favors. She usually kept her requests small and was grateful for what she got. She usually considered asking favors to be rude.

I remembered when we were younger; Sirena had given me a sketch pad for Christmas, knowing how much I wanted to draw like my dad. However, when I tried to give her the meditation incent that I had bought especially for her. She tried to give it back. I had to practically force her to put it in her room. I wasn't about to turn her only favor down. "Sure, anything, what is it?"

"What can I get you folks?" The waitress asked. Sirena closed her mouth and looked away shyly. That private huh? I placed my order and encouraged Sirena to quietly make her own. When the waitress walked away, I asked her about her favor again.

"Well, I'm not sure how to say this but… I'd like your help in setting up a date." She finally said. I leaned over the table; she had my full attention. I certainly wasn't expecting this. "You see, I've become…quite taken with one of Zane's friends."

My mind quickly navigated through a list of 'Zane's friends'. It was difficult to determine which one she was speaking of. The only one I knew that she had met was Atticus. "Um…Sirena you know Atticus is gay right?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes but I don't see how that affects his sister."

Contrary to my beliefs on sexuality—never once did I consider Alexis an option. But I did vaguely recall how well the two women got along when we celebrated Jaden's birthday. I also remembered how fidgety and nervous Sirena had been around her. It still struck me as odd since Alexis and Sirena could be considered—really polar opposites at times.

"You want me to set you up on a date with Alexis?" I asked. She growled, getting quickly defensive.

"Why? You think Alexis's would never want anyone like me? I'm too much of a freak for her?" I backed as far as I could into my booth.

"No…I'm just…shocked you'd want someone like her. She's not really the most spiritual type." I was relieved when Sirena's defenses let up.

"I apologize; I'm just very edgy about this… I'm not sure if this is a gamble worth taking."

"Can't you just use your precognition to find out what she'd say?" I asked. The waitress came back and set our food in front of us. Sirena waited for her to leave before she continued.

"I can't use my precognition on myself….It's too easy for me to picture what I want as opposed to what will actually happened. I tried to find out about Alexis's future but… well, my powers were too hazy. For some reason, she's immune to my powers."

"Aster, please! I can't do this alone." She practically begged. I swallowed the food that I had shoveled into my mouth. I didn't really want to play matchmaker, and from what I knew, Alexis wouldn't appreciate it either. I wanted to tell her just how bad of an idea this was—that her chances of success were not so good. "I've never asked for anything from you and I never will again if you help me with this."

I had never seen Sirena so desperate in her life. Usually, she held herself with a high dignity. It was heart breaking to hear her beg and trying to say no. My hands were tied.

"I'll need an excuse that won't seem out of the ordinary."

"Tell her I'm having difficulties." She said all too quickly. She composed herself and cleared her throat. "As in, difficulties only another female would understand. And set it up so you and Zane will be there too… that way, it won't make her uncomfortable."

Not a perfect cover, but it worked. "Alright fine, I'll help…but I reserve the right to declare myself neutral and you owe me…big time."

Sirena smiled and put her hand on top of mine. "Thank you Aster… I promise, this won't put you in a difficult position."

I sighed and took another bite of my food. I wish I could believe her, I sincerely did. But something told me that she was dragging me in the middle of something fierce. Something I wouldn't like.

**Zane's POV**

Evelyn was taller in person than I could have imagined. Even wearing flat tennis shoes, she rivaled my height. It was odd to see a girl literally eye to eye but her thin body and friendly eyes made it difficult to be intimidated by her.

She didn't come alone. A man with long brown hair and black framed glasses. He was dressed in a modest crimson-red shirt and black pants. He was maybe an inch taller than Evelyn, making him about my height. "Thank you so much for meeting with me Mr. Truesdale!" Evelyn said warmly. "I hope you don't mind, I brought my brother…he's kind of my guardian."

"Oh no, its fine…It's nice to meet you Mr…"

"Dr. Byron Frances." He offered his hand. I shook his hand, surprised at how firm the grip was. "I prefer Ronny."

"Okay, Ronny it is. Um, what kind of doctor are you?" I asked steeping aside and letting them walk by. Evelyn looked around, taking everything in with interest. Ronny remained dignified.

"Well, I special in Cardiology but really I'm more interested in research pertaining to heart disease. Actually Mr. Truesdale, not to be rude but I used you as an example in my medical journal, which was about the effects of holographic on the body."

"Is that right?" I covered my annoyance fairly easily, but I wasn't too happy about being 'used' in a journal. Particularly when it wasn't technically holographic dueling that destroyed my heart. "Well…I'm glad someone got something good out of that…and it's actually just Zane."

"Wow first name basis already?" Evelyn asked, making herself comfortable on my couch. "I feel honored."

"Well…it is my name." I responded. I motioned for Ronny to sit down on the couch but he politely declined. I shrugged and sat down next to Evelyn. "So…I guess let's start with your deck, may I see it?"

"Oh! Yeah, defiantly." She pulled a deck box from her belt and handed it to me. "This one's the one I prefer to use. I have like ten more but this one seems to be the only one that gets me anywhere."

I went through it pretty quickly. It was an okay deck—probably won her quite a few matches in the school yard. It wasn't going to cut it in the pro leagues though. "Evelyn, do you know why most duelists have a themed deck?"

She pressed a finger to her chin and shrugged. "I always thought it was just to make them look cool."

Well…that was a cute assumption. I shook my head and sighed. "Not exactly—it's so they'll have more options for every card they draw…Thing of this way, suppose you have a magician themed deck, and you draw a magic card that only works on sorcerers. Well that's not a problem because you literally have a deck full of sorcerers. While, if you had a mixed deck, your chances of being able to use the magic card decrease tremendously. The only real problem you run into with theme decks is that you're left prone to type isolating cards. But if you're smart enough, you can get around that."

"Huh, I never looked at it that way before." Ronny said. A new person wouldn't. It was the first lesson of dueling usually. I set the deck down and faced Evelyn.

"First things first… You need a new deck. A theme that kind of fits your personality. You need to learn everything about your deck. You have to know every card you have and how it's used. Next, we're going to get you practicing with amateurs—people just entering the pro leagues…We'll take it from there."

I was surprised by how natural it felt to lead another person. How powerful it made me feel. I hated to admit it, but with everything in my life spinning away—it felt nice to be in control of something.

"How much is this going to cost?"

"Ronny!" Evelyn glared at her older brother. I held my hand up.

"It's a reasonable question…And actually it won't cost you anything." I explained. "Well, at least not if she succeeds. To me, Evelyn will be an investment. I'm going to pay for everything to get her on top, and if she makes it, than I'll take pay back if she decides to go solo or a fee to continue her teachings…If she fails, then I loose my money, but Evelyn's chances of becoming a duelist well…Let's just say it takes a lot to get up again once your down."

I spoke from personal experience. I had to hit bottom before I could climb back up again. And even then, the means barely justified the ends. But seeing Evelyn's smug smile and Ronny's thoughtful look—well, I was hopeful that her story would end differently.

"So, do we have a deal?"

Evelyn looked to her brother with concerned eyes. He stared back at her and then to me. "Well…if we have nothing to loose…"

Evelyn practically jumped out of her seat. "Mr. Trues… Zane… I'd be honored to become your pupil."

"We start tomorrow." I decided, feeling a little giddy myself. Maybe this condition wasn't the end after all. Maybe I could live my dreams through Evelyn.

I shook her hand—hoping to god that I was making the right choice.


	3. Silence

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 3: Silence

**Aster's POV**

When I got back to the apartments, Atticus was walking up to the building. I ran up to open the door for him. "Hey, Atticus."

He jumped, bumping back against me. I grunted and balanced him away from me. "Relax, it's alright…I kind of live here you know."

He turned to me, looking embarrassed. "Sorry Aster; I've just been jumpy lately… Actually, that's kind of why I came."

"Did you need to talk to Zane?" We walked towards the elevators side by side, grabbing some curious looks along the way. Since revealing that Zane and I were dating; people were surprisingly accepting of it. In fact, we were considered a power couple. But it did make people watch my personal life more closely. Imagine the ratings when a gossip magazine had photos of me hanging out with my boyfriend's ex—it was practically tabloid gold.

"Actually, I needed to talk to you." Really? What was it about me that made people want to confide in me today? "If it's not too much trouble I mean…um, it's just… I've been having nightmares about…you know who."

I understood immediately where this was going. For weeks after the Ollie fiasco, I had nightmares about the white, hardwood room that would forever be my version of hell. I sometimes felt Ollie grab me (as he did when he held me hostage) and pull me into a world of darkness. I also found myself occasionally thinking about what might have happened had Ollie succeeded in his hostage plan.

Atticus carried a heavy amount of guilt and shame; since he was the 'reason'(you know, besides the fact he was insane) that Ollie nearly killed Zane and I. I guess those feelings were catching up to him. "And you want to know if the anxiety pills helped?"

"Well, I don't really want to take pills but… I heard you got off them." Atticus said carefully before adding. "Zane told me—to make me feel better about everything. But I figured you still must have nightmares about it sometimes."

The elevator my floor and we stepped out. Passing by numbers until we reached my apartment. "Not lately. I mean, I suppose every now and then, something will make me think about it and I'll have a nightmare but it's pretty under control now. Don't forget to take off your shoes." I opened the door, reaching down for my own shoes.

"Zane, Atticus is here! How did your appointment go with your new girlfriend?" I teased. I didn't get a chuckle but instead, I heard a throat-clearing cough. I looked up to see Zane, a tall, lanky girl, and a man with glasses.

The girl (I assumed his appointment) looked horrified. Zane, on the other hand, had an entertained look on his face.

"Evelyn, Ronny, you know Aster Phoenix…Aster, this is Evelyn Frances and her brother, Dr. Ronny Frances." I was blushing, which was abnormal even in an embarrassing situation for me. I would have thought that his newest project would have been gone by now.

Atticus giggled; I turned to glare at him. He nervously started to take off his shoes. "Pleased to meet you…I'm sorry, that was…kind of an inside joke." I said, taking off my other shoe. I walked over to shake Evelyn and Dr. Frances hand. Her hand was tense and awkward in mine.

"Um…no problem, I'm really glad to meet you. I'll be working with Zane a lot it looks like." She said, blushing just as much as I was.

"Oh, and this is Atticus Rhodes…My friend from Duel Academy." Zane explained. Atticus smiled warmly and extended his hand out.

"It's nice to meet you." The blushing faded from Evelyn's face. Instead, I noticed a quick emotion fly against her features. Her mouth turned down in a half-smile; her eye brows lowered but were not relaxed at all. It looked almost like she was disgusted with him.

If she was, she disguised it very well. Her face was beaming again within seconds. "Likewise, I'm sure." She turned to her brother—who appeared to be just the opposite of Evelyn. There seemed to be a light to his face upon seeing Atticus. "Hey Ron, I think it's time for us to go."

"Hmm? Oh yeah….I agree." Mr. Frances and his sister made there way towards the door. "Thanks again for meeting with us Mr. Truesdale."

"No problem…We'll meet again tomorrow at around 2 o Clock." Zane decided. As they passed Atticus, I saw Evelyn give Atticus one last look—this one wasn't disgust; it was spite.

Atticus was too focused on Mr. Frances, who was trying to focus on anything but Atticus. "Sounds great! See you then." Evelyn said as they slipped their shoes on. They were out the door in a rather quick matter—too quick for my tastes.

"Hey Zane, what was that guys name again? He looks familiar." Atticus asked, making himself comfortable on the couch near Zane.

"Ronny Frances. Seems like a real stiff to me. His sisters nice though." I almost told Zane what I had just witnessed out of Evelyn, but decided to push it from my mind. Maybe I was just over-analyzing things—I barely knew her and it was ridiculous to throw accusations I wasn't sure about.

I chose to change the subject instead. "So Atticus…how long have you been having nightmares?"

Zane raised an eyebrow, looking to his best friend/former boyfriend. "You're having nightmares about Ollie again?"

Again? He's known about this? "Yeah, afraid so…I've tried taking long baths, and it makes it so I don't dream, but…it doesn't stop me from having nightmares when I do dream. I don't know…sometimes I feel like Ollie's never going to get out of my head. I was an idiot for ever dating him in the first place!"

"You're not an idiot Atti…Even I thought he was harmless." Zane admitted. It was true, Ollie had lie to everyone about his true personality. He lead us on might be a more accurate statement. No one could have ever known how obsessive and destructive he was. Without the knowledge we knew now; it was easy to feel sorry and maybe even like Ollie. If Atticus had known what he was capable of, he would have never dated him.

In a sick way though, it was beneficial for me at first. Although it wasn't the reason Zane and Atticus broke up; Atticus's affair with Ollie was the final nail in the coffin. I didn't like thinking like that because the incident brought Zane a lot of pain, and caused a lot of trouble for everyone involved. However, at the same time, I acknowledged that if Ollie and Atticus had never met; Zane and I might have turned out differently.

"But you were biased—I should have been able to see Ollie for what he really was." Atticus sighed and shook his head. "Just talking about him makes me sick. I should probably go."

Atticus picked himself off the couch and headed to the door in a slow motion. I felt terrible for him. "You don't have to rush off you know…"

He turned and smiled slightly. "You guys suffered more from Ollie than I did. It's a little…selfish of me, to complain about a couple bad nights sleep when you guys went through a lot worse. I'll talk you both later."

After Atticus left and the initial guilt passed, I decided to talk to Zane about Sirena's request. "Do you think Thursday you, me, Sirena, and Alexis could go out to dinner?" He gave me a confused look. "Apparently Sirena has a crush on Alexis."

"Really? That's….surprising." Zane said. I sat down next to him on the couch. He wrapped an arm around me; I soothed myself into it. "That's what she wanted to see you about."

I nodded. "So, how about we take up out tomorrow, will that be alright with you?"

"Should be fine." Then he frowned. "But not until later, I just promised Evelyn we'd work then. How about around 7?"

I felt unsure about her after the way she looked at Atticus. Again, I forced my assumptions away. "Alright, that will work."

**Zane's POV**

After extended discussion and dueling practices, we decided the Evelyn's theme would be horses. She had told me all about the horses she rode as a child. That and beast was a little harder to specify since there were so many. So we ended up spending all afternoon, going through game shops and looking for new cards. "Most of your weaker monsters will be sacrifices, but every monster should have an ability. Using a weaker monster to simply defend your life points is the biggest mistake you can make."

"So every monster needs a purpose?" She asked. "Kind of a like a book plot, everything leads to something?"

"Yes, something like that." I pointed to a card in the glass case. It was a unicorn type monster—nearly eight stars. "This is what we call your main event—a card like this isn't something you want to always count on, but it's something you want to have when you're nearing your grand finale." I motioned for the worker to take it out of the case to show her. Evelyn had a longing look on her face.

"That's an awesome card."

"Glad you like it." I said, frowning when I took notice of the price. Damn, it must have been a really rare card. I took my credit card out. "Another important thing to remember is that you have to update your deck constantly. If you use the same old tricks all the time, eventually your opponent is going to catch on. Dueling is about adapting, you have to evolve to stay alive, and otherwise, you don't stand a chance."

"Is it really that cut throat?" She sounded nervous when I had said that. I shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it cut throat but…you can't expect people to fall for the same thing over and over again, you know?" I explained. I saw a magic card—a really good one—one that was even more expensive than the damn unicorn. I motioned for that one too, reminding myself that the money was going to come back to me. "It's a hard world Evelyn; it's survival of the fittest. People think dueling is all fun and games but in reality it's a metaphor for life. You either make it or you don't."

She still appeared nervous, but kept her fears to herself. Good. I may have been a coach, but I wasn't exactly ready to be a shoulder to cry on. We picked out a few more cards before I decided my wallet had been through enough at least for buying cards. We excited the shop and made our way out.

"I have to get back to my apartment soon, where is Ronny picking you up?" I asked. She paused on the street, looking at her feet.

"Zane, I'm sorry…Ronny's still working. I thought we'd be longer." Evelyn said meekly. Great, if I wasn't back at the apartment in about an hour, Aster would have my ass.

"Well, were do you live?"

"In an apartment just outside of Domino…" Even better. There'd be no way I could drive that far and reach the apartment in time. Not in time to avoid traffic anyway. I had another idea in my head, but I wasn't sure how it would go over. What choice did I have? I couldn't leave her all alone in this city with a case of expensive cards.

"Well…do you want to come to dinner with us? It'd be my treat." She lit up at the idea, but didn't seem completely sold on it.

"Are you sure it'd be okay with your boyfriend?" I guided her towards my car and chauffer. Opening the door for her to climb in first.

"Its fine, it's not our date night… it's more of a matchmaking service."

()

About an hour and a half later, Aster, Evelyn, Sirena, and I were at a rather fancy restaurant, waiting for Alexis's to arrive. Aster didn't seem mad that I had dragged along Evelyn, though he didn't seem happy either. I would catch him looking at her; like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. Thankfully, she didn't notice as Sirena's energy was drawing all the focus.

"She's running late, she's not coming is she?" Sirena was ripping her napkin into little tiny pieces. At this point, she had a small little pile going.

"She's only two minutes behind. Just relax, okay?" Aster said in an oddly comforting voice. Aster then turned his attention to Evelyn. "So, I was wondering, why do you rely on your brother so much? What about your parents?"

The question was bold, even for Aster. Evelyn looked worried for a minute before she answered. "Well, um…my parents weren't really that great. When Ronny graduated med school moved out, he took me with him, you know…It was kind of a promise we made to each other."

I glared at my younger boyfriend—who seemed genuinely sorry that he had asked. What was going on with him? "Oh, I'm sorry… You know I was financially dependent when I was about your age, actually a little younger."

"Really? We'll I guess I should have taken a page out of your book." I was thrown back by how malicious her comment sounded. Well, could I really blame her? Aster had gone a bit far.

Before it could escalate, Alexis had finally showed up. She sat down quickly next to me and across from Sirena as we had elaborately planned. "Sorry, traffic on the way here was awful…Oh I'm sorry, I'm Alexis Rhodes." She said to Evelyn. My new project smiled sweetly at her. Kind of hard to believe she had just snapped at Aster.

"Oh yeah, I've heard a bunch about you! I'm Evelyn Frances." Aster coughed, getting Alexis's attention to him.

"Alexis, you remember Sirena, Sartorius's sister?" Alexis looked to Sirena and smiled. Sirena blushed deeply and tried to lower her face.

"Oh yeah, of course… It's nice to see you again."

"Indeed it is." Sirena said, extending her hand. Her hand accidently hit Aster's glass of water, which accidently spilled on to Alexis. She jumped up- the bottom part of her shirt and most of her skirt was completely drenched. Sirena looked completely horrified. "Alexis, I'm so sorry! Here, let help you clean…"

She had made a grab for her napkin but realized it was now torn to bits. Aster rolled his eyes and gave his napkin to Alexis. Evelyn (who was giggling at the situation) and myself contributed to the clean-up effort as well.

"It's alright." Alexis sighed when Sirena wouldn't stop muttering apologies. "I'll be fine...I should make it through dinner."

The annoyance in her voice couldn't be missed. I knew that Alexis wasn't mean enough to hate Sirena for an accident like that; but I could understand the frustration of having to sit through dinner completely wet. Sirena was now blushing for a completely different reason.

Aster groaned and mouthed something to Sirena. I'm pretty sure it was along the lines of 'I want out'.


	4. Optimistic

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 4: Optimistic

**Zane's POV**

The dinner continued on despite earlier difficulties'. Fortunately, moods lightened up after awhile once Alexis's started drying. On the other hand, Sirena barely talked at all. Not even to Alexis, which kind of eliminated the whole point of this dinner.

"Another thing to remember is to keep your life points guarded with every defense you have, don't count on your monsters to always defend them." I told Evelyn as we were going over strategies. She wrinkled her nose.

"I knew that already…" She said as chewed on a piece of her chicken.

"Sorry, but that's one of the biggest mistakes a newbie can make. So, if you learn that, then you're already better then most of the newcomers." She laughed at what I said, and I smiled. I would be lying if I said I wasn't having fun training Evelyn. She was a rather bubbly person but intelligent person, which was a nice thing to see from a teenage duelist.

Aster was getting frustrated with Alexis and Sirena. He made a bold attempt to cross the bridge. "So, Alexis, did you know Sirena was the one who stopped Ollie?"

Sirena, for the first time in awhile, looked up and glared at Aster. "Actually, I did. How did you do it, though? I've read the papers but they're never really completely accurate." Alexis asked, giving Sirena her full attention.

Sirena caught on to what he was doing, not only had he pinpointed something they had in common—but he had given her the opportunity to look like a hero. I had to say, it was rather clever.

"Well, um…It's really hard to explain, without going into the complexities of it…"

"What's there to explain? She melted Ollie's mind with some miko magic so I could get away." Aster explained proudly. Sirena looked more embarrassed than flattered.

"It wasn't exactly miko magic; it was the powers my brother and I were born with."

"Still, you can actually do that?" Alexis asked, astounded by what she just heard. "What else can you do?"

"I'm sorry, Zane." I turned to see Evelyn, who was now a really pale shade. "I'm not feeling well…could you take me home? Please?"

Aster gave her a questioning look. I had to admit, this suppose sickness came all of the sudden. Never the less, I gave Aster the money to pay for our meals and stood up. "It was great to see you two again… I'll see you at home, Aster."

He stared at Evelyn for another moment before smiling up at me. "Alright."

()

I ended up driving Evelyn to the hospital where Ronny worked. It was a lot closer than where she lived and I wouldn't have to worry about her being left alone. He worked at a higher end hospital in the middle of the city. We walked into the back, deserted exit.

She opened the door and held it open for me. "This way, we don't have to go through the emergency room." Good point. I walked through and we looked for Ronny. Eventually, we found him outside the break room writing on a clipboard.

When he looked up, I was startled to see that he was surprised. "She said this was okay." I explained.

He gave her an odd look. "Oh yes, of course it is. This is actually better; I wanted to talk to you. Evelyn, could you go wait in the wait room please?" He asked.

"Okay." She said weakly. She walked into the break room.

"Follow me this way." Ronny said. I looked back to Evelyn for a moment before finally following Ronny. "She'll be fine, she gets…a little sick when she thinks about—well, I probably shouldn't bother with that."

"Are you sure?" I asked, surprised at concerned my voice sounded. Yeah, okay, I hated when anyone got sick, but I never worried myself over someone I barely knew before. Then again, I guess I more than barely knew her.

"Yes, unfortunately, Evelyn's been through more than I would have liked her to be. I had always hoped to do better for her than what was done for me." We approached an open office; I assumed it to be Ronny's.

He let me first and closed the door. "May I offer you a seat?"

"I'm fine." I stated. It was some petty revenge for not accepting a seat at my place. Ronny didn't seem to care; he sat down at his desk a slide a file towards me.

"This is your medical records. I've been investing your condition for awhile now." I barely heard him after medical records. My blood was boiling at the idea that someone other than my doctor was looking through my medical records. Ronny took notice of this. "Please relax, Mr. Truesdale. I only looked at the things that pertained to my field. Namely your heart problems."

"And that makes it better?" I shouted suddenly. Ronny wasn't phased at all.

"Actually, yes it does. Because I believe I think I've found something that can help your heart function better—maybe even heal it." In my shock, I didn't catch the bottle of pills he tossed me. I reached for the floor to pick them up. They were unlabeled—they must have experimental. "Now, these haven't been tested on a lot of people and in fact are still in the trial process. That's where you come in…"

He opened the file and pointed to my cardio record- by the far the longest one. "I'm not going to dance around it. You're heart is severely damaged. It's nothing short of a miracle that you can have a productive life on it. But we believe that this medication can heal scar tissue inflicted against organs—think of it. With this medication, you could heal a liver that otherwise would need to be transplanted."

I looked the bottle over; could this be real? There had to be more. "What's the catch?"

"Well, you'd be considered a test subject. We would watch you for side-effects or complications. Of course, I can't guarantee that it will work but it's shown positive results in our other test subjects."

One question plagued my mind more than anything else. "Would I be able to duel again?"

Ronny pushed his glasses up in a thoughtful matter. "Well, if it worked well on you, than yes, hypothetically speaking you could duel again." He reached under his file and pulled out a paper. When I took a closer look, I saw it was a medical waiver. "You'd have to sign this before I can release those to you. It essentially says…"

I grabbed the form. "I know how to read." I needed to make sure there weren't any loopholes or things I missed. The paper made it perfectly clear that this was an experimental process but didn't exactly add anything had forgot to mention.

I was almost afraid to believe it could happen. Evelyn had distracted me from most of the pain, but I still felt the agony of my dreams falling apart. And now some magic pills may be able to give it all back to me? I didn't know what to say.

I signed my name to the form. Daring to hope.

**Aster's POV**

A few days after the date, Sirena had called to tell me that Alexis had asked to hang out with her again. Even I had to admit, I was surprised by that.

"We're going to the park for a festival, Aster I'm so enthralled!" She sounded happier then I have ever heard her. I was glad it all worked out.

"That's great, Sirena. Just make sure you take it slow." I said simply. She agreed whole heartedly and hung up the phone. I shook my head—I guess even girls like Sirena could get excited.

I set my focus back to my plans for Zane's birthday, which was now only five days away. My father's ring was wrapped safely away, now I just needed a romantic yet honest to us way to give it to him. Something creative yet not too blown out.

I was thinking of maybe going to the cabin, but tossed that idea out. It needed to be somewhere we couldn't go at anytime we pleased.

"Hey Aster." I put the list of numbers into my pocket and smiled innocently. Zane caught on pretty quickly. "You wouldn't be planning my birthday dinner, would you?"

"Right because my entire day revolves around you." He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I let my head fall against his shoulder. "Can I help you?"

"Nope, just trying to figure out your master plan." He said. I noticed his arm strength was stronger than usual.

"What have you been up to?"

He shrugged. "Just got back from the gym actually."

Really? I had heard from Atticus and Syrus that Zane was pretty strong in his younger days. According to them, he worked out all the time and had pretty strong muscles by the time he left duel academy. Of course, one of the many drawbacks of his heart problems was that extra strain was bad for him. So the gym had been cut from his rotation. "Are you sure that's safe?"

"It's safe enough." He turned me around and pressed himself against me. "Might not be so safe for you though."

Before I could retort; he smashed his lips against mine and back me up against the counter. I wanted to ask him what this was all about but… Well, I'm only a man.

I let him left me up onto the counter. He started attacking my neck, leaving breathless. My hands started drifting down his body. His new bout of confidence excited me. "Someone's in a good mood."

He laughed and leaned against me, nuzzling my cheek. "I'm in some kind of mood, I wouldn't say it's a good one per say."

I moved my cheek to kiss him, ready and willing to oblige his lust. That was until he pulled away from me. "Where the hell are you going?"

"I have to meet with Evelyn; she's having her first duel in two days." He picked his coat off the couch and slipped it on. I glared at him with immense frustration. This was just unfair!

"If you had to leave, why did you get me all excited?"

He smirked a devilish smile and walked over to kiss my cheek. "Because it's fun…"

He said his goodbyes and walked out. Leaving me alone in our apartment. I growled and hopped off the counter. I was still mad he turned me on and walked out. But at least I had time to work on my other project—researching his little dueling princess.

()

I typed in Evelyn Frances on the computer and got a lot of results (a very popular name apparently) but didn't get a whole lot on Zane's Evelyn. Although, it was entirely possible that she was just lost among the names and figures.

On instinct, I added Orville Duncan to the list. Maybe Evelyn had known Ollie and decided to take revenge against Zane and everyone else. It would explain why she had been so cold towards Atticus.

Nothing turned up. I did find plenty of news stories about Ollie though. Including something I hadn't seen before—an interview with Ollie's parents.

The press had sat down with Mr. Orville C. Duncan senior and his wife, Caroline M. Duncan to discuss the entire incident. Not surprisingly, they had been rather crude about the people who had hurt their son (Zane, Atticus, Sirena etc). After skipping through most of the badmouthing and found something that caught my eye.

_We now must rely on our daughter, Louisa (Louisa E. Duncan age 16) to carry on our great legacy. _Maybe a coincidence? I think not. It made perfect sense! She was the same age as Evelyn and had the motives to pull it off. Why else would this girl just appear out of no where?

Oh god, Zane… She had caught him at the perfect time. He felt weak because of his condition and now she had him exactly where she wants him—well almost.

I called Zane, asking him to bring Evelyn by the apartment after they were done. I was going to stop her before she destroyed Zane completely.


	5. A Matter of Fact

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 5: A Matter of Fact

**Aster's POV**

I had called Atticus to invite him over. Hopefully find out more about the mysterious Duncan's before confronting Zane. I practically forced him into the apartment when he arrived. "Hey, I didn't take off my shoes!"

"Forget your shoes, we have bigger problems." I stated. Atticus brushed himself off after my rough treatment. "What do you know about the Duncan's?"

Atticus raised an eyebrow at me. "Well, he didn't take me around them very much. They're really rich people. I know Ollie's dad owns some kind of big business, and his mom was a professional athlete before she got injured. It was my understanding that they put a lot of pressure on Ollie and his sister."

"What about his sister? What does she look like?"

"Why does that matter?" He asked, I heard the nervous defensive tone in his voice. I understood he didn't like talking about Ollie but Zane's reputation, maybe even his life was at stake here. I glared him down until he told me. "I never met Louisa…Mrs. Duncan always said she was really tall, kind of skinny. Ollie's mom was always complaining to him that he needed to convince her to eat more. Both his parents had black hair so…I guess she probably did."

I narrowed my eyes; the woman he described sounded similar to Evelyn. "I think you've met Ms. Duncan, in fact I think we all have."

"What are you talking about? When would any of us have had the chance to meet Ollie's sister?" I rolled my eyes; did I have to spell it out?

"Don't you see? Ollie's sister has been under our noses. She's Evelyn Frances!" I said, clenching my fists as I explained. "She disguised herself as an amateur duelist in order to get close to Zane and ruin him!"

Atticus gave me a funny look. "Um…Aster, that's…impossible."

"How is it impossible? You don't think they'd do it? I found an interview with Ollie's parents online. They hate all of us for what we did—why wouldn't they use their daughter for revenge?"

"Because….she died." Atticus finally admitted. My river of confidence dried up just like that. How was that possible? "She committed suicide about a month ago."

I was caught half-way between shock and sadness. It was odd that I felt sorry for someone I never even knew. "Are…Are you sure?"

Atticus nodded. "One of Ollie's friends had told me about it. He wanted me to tell Ollie but I wouldn't go anywhere near him. He even sent me a card from the funeral to prove it."

Great, why hadn't I looked it up before jumping to this conclusion? I might have found Louisa's obituary or something that would have stopped me from making an ass out of myself. I groaned my frustration. "I was about ready to accuse Evelyn of being some girl who isn't even alive anymore."

"You thought Evelyn was Louisa? What would make you think that?" He sat down and listened as I explained Evelyn's strange behavior. Starting with the unfriendly glances to him, and ending with the dinner with Alexis and Sirena. "Oh my god! Lexi and Sirena are going out? She never told me."

I sighed. "Atticus focus! I told Zane to bring Evelyn home with him because I had to tell them both something bent on revealing her as Louisa. Now, I come to find out, that I was wrong and I have nothing to tell them."

"Well, can't you just call him and tell them you wanted to take them out to dinner or something? That you wanted it to be a surprise to show your support?"

"It has holes. Why wouldn't I have just told him that?" I said. I glanced at my watch; he'd be home any minute. "Look, I'll figure out something—at least until Evelyn's gone and I can tell him the truth. But you have to leave before he gets…"

The door opened and much to my horror, Zane and Evelyn filed in. Zane switched glances between Atticus and myself. "Um, what's going on? And why does Atticus have his shoes on?"

Atticus blushed embarrassed, rubbing behind his head. "Well, um… I…"

Evelyn was glaring at Atticus again. I didn't understand why she hated him so much if she wasn't Louisa. And she did hate him. She was absolutely disgusted with him. And until I knew why, she wasn't safe.

"Birthday party." I blurted suddenly. Everybody look to me as if I had stated something ludicrous. And…come to think of it, I kind of did. So I elaborated. "Um, we're getting a small dinner party together for your birthday Zane, and since you and Evelyn have been spending so much time together—well, I figured she should come too. In fact, you can bring Ronny too." Whatever this was, Ronny must have been helping some how.

"I thought you and I were just going to spend my birthday together. Alone." He questioned, not completely buying my sudden birthday idea. I forced myself to take on a tough exterior.

"Well, you're birthday is an important day for everyone. I think you should spend it with your friends and family and such."

"Zane, if it's a problem…Ronny and I won't come." She said with a hint of disappointment. Oh she was good.

"No, it's not a problem." He insisted, crossing the living room to get a better look at me. Looking for the lie beneath the liar. Good luck with that. "I just smell something rotten in the state of Denmark." Well, that'd make two of us…oddly enough, for two completely different reasons. "So was he inviting you Atticus?"

"Actually, um…he had me help plan it." Atticus said quickly with a smile. Getting right on board with the story. "You know, to help get my mind off of my…nightmares."

"Is that right?" Atticus nodded. "Then why exactly are your shoes staining my carpet? No one's explained that yet."

Oh right, our stupid carpet rule. "He just must have forgotten, Zane; it's not a big deal. Who are you, the shoe police?"

Zane shook his head; still not completely believing the birthday party story. But he accepted it; which was all I really needed right now.

There was a knock on the door. "That must be your brother…I had Ronny come pick Evelyn up here." He said in an annoyed curtly matter. It would have pissed me if I didn't somewhat deserve it. Zane opened the door and Ronny entered the home—taking off his shoes first. I wasn't starting to hate the rule I came up with more and more.

Ronny paused when he saw Atticus. He appeared to be….blushing? "Oh hello…Am I missing something?"

"Nothing, Aster just wanted to invite you and Evelyn to my birthday party." Zane explained. Ronny gave me the same awkward look everyone's been giving me. Wow, tough crowd for a party.

"Well, I'm sure they're won't be a problem. At least for Evelyn, I could be on duty." Ronny said, still glancing at Atticus. It was then that I noticed Atticus was staring right back at him. "Um, so you two are meeting again tomorrow?"

"Yeah, to get ready for the big duel. We'll start early in the morning… I'd like to meet with you before hand to discuss Evelyn's duel." Ronny nodded to Zane, but something seemed off about it. Like…maybe it wasn't about Evelyn at all.

"Of course. We'll come a half-an-hour early…Mr. Rhodes…" He said suddenly to Atticus, who had snapped out of his staring trance. "Would you accompany me to my car please?"

"Um sure…" Atticus responded. I looked at him confused. He winked at me; well, I guess he knew what he was doing. "I'll see you guys later, sorry about the shoe thing Zane!"

Everyone vacated the apartment in record time. Zane sighed and looked to Aster. "So, do you want to tell me what all this is about?"

Honestly, I was just as confused as he was. Again, for entirely different reasons. "I can't. I have to plan a party."

**Zane's POV**

The pills were working great. I already felt better in just the short time I've started taking them. Ronny seemed relatively pleased with the results when we met shortly before Evelyn's training. At the current moment, he was taking my blood pressure.

"There don't seem to be a lot of negative drawbacks—have you felt any strain on your heart?" He asked. I shook my head, relieved that it was the truth. I was feeling stronger than I have in a long time in just a short amount of time. I had even been able to cut out my blood pressure medicine. He took the cup off, freeing my hand from the numbing tension. "Well, we'll have to have the official check-up next week, but I'd say this medicine agrees with you."

"Ronny, are you almost done?" Evelyn asked impatiently, her duel disk hanging off her arm. "Because Zane and I have work to do!"

Ronny made an annoyed grunt. He put his stethoscope away and swung his backpack over his shoulder. "If you think something with the medicine is going wrong, call me immediately."

He turned to walk away but stopped suddenly. "Also, Mr. Truesdale, I hope you don't mind but… I've asked your colleague, Atticus Rhodes out on a date. I hope this doesn't bother you…"

It did bother me, quite a bit actually. Even though I had trusted Ronny with my health and life (which was nothing more than an act of desperation) I wasn't prepared to trust my best friend's life with him. Particularly, since the last time I allowed Atticus to follow his own institution, it nearly got us all killed. But what was I suppose to say? I forbid you to date him? They were full grown men.

Besides—the idea of something compromising my pill supply did not appeal to me.

"He can make his own choices. It's fine with me. Just be careful, his last boyfriend wasn't too kind to him."

()

After a few hours, Evelyn and I took a short brake down by the bleachers. Evelyn was huffing and puffing while I rested myself against the rail. It seemed odd that she was so out of breath, but I had done less physical work. "So, do I get a practice duel before this one?"

"If you want one; it's kind of late minute, but I could probably find someone." I said, taking a long drink of water. She looked at me disappointed.

"I was kind of hoping you could duel me." My eyes flicked over to her. "You know, since Ronny was giving you the pills."

And what right did Ronny have telling her to begin with? Did the guy have any belief in doctor-patient confidentiality? "It hasn't been long since I've started taking them. I don't think I should…"

"But you feel better don't you?" She asked with a confident smile.

"Yes but…Look, your brother shouldn't have even told you about this." I said firmly, drinking the last of my water, and tossing the bottle in the trash. "Look, we have a lot of stuff to do and…"

She interrupted me with a heartfelt plead. "It's always been my dream to duel you. Ever since I first saw you and…I guess I was just hoping that I could."

"I told Ronny you'd be perfect for the drug just for that very reason. I know it sounds selfish but—well, I really look up to you Zane." Evelyn's hands became wrapped in her skirt, as she fought back tears. "Please, just one duel, and I promise I'll never ask you again."

I knew I couldn't do it. Even with my improving heart, it was still too dangerous to even consider dueling right now. But I remembered the feeling of your dreams being crushed in front of you. I recalled how I had wanted something so bad that it literally broke my heart. How could I deny this girl—someone I was coming to consider a friend—her dream?

"Alright, one duel, and that's it."

()

I felt like a cheating spouse when I went home that night. Aster was watching t.v. when I walked in, his legs crossed but gaze focused like he was solving a difficult puzzle. I sighed, closing the door to the apartment and took off my shoes.

"Hey, what are you watching?" I asked. He didn't respond, his gaze still focused on what was on the screen. Maybe he was mad at me. I was a little harsh to him the other night when he had me bring Evelyn home just to tell her she was invited to my birthday party/dinner. I was upset mostly because he just could have asked her via phone, but partly because he was keeping something from me. Aster in his life had never done something so….stupid. He was anything but a fumbling fool; but that night, he could fairly form a sentence that didn't sound like clumsy improv.

I was set to apologize when I saw exactly what he was watching. The DVD that Evelyn sent to me. I wasn't sure how to feel about it until he spoke. "Doesn't it seem odd to you that she didn't put a return address on it?"

I felt myself grow mad; but tried to suppress it for his sake. "Not really. She gave me her contact information on the DVD."

"Yeah, so you'd contact her on her terms." He paused the DVD and crossed his arms. "Zane, I think there's something going on with her."

"Maybe you're just looking for things wrong with her, did you ever thing of that?" He frowned at the rising volume of my voice. I continued on anyway. "I found something to appreciate other than dueling, and that makes you mad? Weren't you the one who suggested in the first place?"

"Damn it, Zane. She's up to something!" He started yelling. Aster tended to be like a porcupine. The minute he thought he was being attacked, he got defensive. "She keeps glaring at Atticus, and gets defensive if you even say one thing against her."

"Like that doesn't sound like someone I know…" He narrowed his eyes.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that… You need to listen to me. Ollie had just as many friends as he did enemies. What makes you think she's not seeking revenge against you or that his parents didn't hire her. Look at this!" Aster held a paper in front of my face. I read the title. _Interview with Orville Duncan's Parents_. I took the paper and read it slowly. Well, I guess the Duncan's weren't very sympathetic about what Ollie did to us. I read a small circled part—it was about Ollie's sister Louisa. "You think Evelyn is Ollie's sister?"

"No! Well…yeah I did. But Atticus told me she killed herself over a month ago so it can't be her. But that's not the point. We didn't even know Ollie had a sister—hell, we didn't even know this article existed! We don't know anything about these people and you don't know anything about Evelyn!"

"Well neither do you! And is that why you called us over the other night?" I as roaring now. Was there anybody who could stay out of my business? Hell, I couldn't have privacy even in the proximity of my own home. "You thought Evelyn was Ollie's sister too, didn't you? So you were going to call her out, only to discover that you were wrong—that's why Atticus was here too! Isn't that right?"

He gave me a look that I never wanted him to give me. It was one of disgust and contempt. I knew it wasn't a permanent feeling but it didn't hurt any less. Contrary to how I felt at the moment, I loved this man—and it was hard for me to accept anything but love from him in return.

He stomped across the floor and started putting his shoes on. "You know what? You're right. You're absolutely right. I thought Evelyn was Louisa Duncan and yeah I was fully prepared to call her out on it. And I was wrong and I acted like an ass. But at least I can admit it." He threw open the door and gave me one last angry look. "But if you can't do the same; then you aren't the man I thought you were."

He walked out and slammed the door shut. I rubbed my temple gently and growled my frustration. "Damn it!" I ripped the article apart and let it fall to the pieces fall to the floor.

I started to wonder if it was possible for me to ever really be completely happy. If I dared to have one thing, I seemed to loose the other. First Atticus, then my dueling career, now Aster. Was there some kind of fate set against me?

I wasn't sure but I did know one thing; it'd be a cold day in hell before I lost him.


	6. Twists and Turns

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 6: Twists and Turns

**Aster's POV**

I arrived at the mansion in the late evening. I normally didn't stop by without calling; which was why Larius was so surprised when he opened the door. "Aster?"

"Can I come in? I kind of need a place to crash tonight." Larius nodded and stepped aside, letting me walk through. The mansion had gone under major redecoration after I had left. While before, only Sartorius's room had been decorated in a spiritual fashion—the whole place was now something out of a fortune teller's tent. "Is Sartorius home?"

"Yeah, he's in his office. It's…well, you know where it is. Do you want something to drink or eat?"

"No thanks, what about Sirena?" I asked, thinking that this might be easier if she was here too. Larius shook his head.

"She went out again with that Alexis girl. They've become great friends since your little dinner party." Larius said. "I should go get your room ready—you are spending the night right?" I wasn't completely sure yet, but nodded anyway. "Your sheets haven't been changed since you've left. Tori; had it left as it was incase you ever wanted to come back."

"It's only going to be a short stay, I'm sure but…thanks." It was unbelievable at times to think of Larius and me as being civil. Months ago, I hated him for being the D's son—now I felt like I owed him my life. After all, if it hadn't been for Larius, Zane might have died.

I climbed up the stairs and crossed to the third room down to the right. I opened the door slowly, to find Sartorius sitting at a dark-clothed table—with only candles providing light. His lips were pressed shut as his hands covered what appeared to be a glowing crystal ball. I knew this was his form of meditation.

"Sartorius?" I asked carefully walking in and closing the door. When he didn't come to, I walked across the room and gently nudged him. "Sartorius…"

His quick hand grabbed my wrist as his eyes opened. His gaze found me, and he smiled. "Aster, so good to see you." I coughed and motioned down to my hand. "Oh, sorry…You know how I get during my meditation." He released me. I rubbed my wrist and offered my own smile.

"I'm sorry to bug you but it's an emergency and…" I looked down to see a deck of tarot cards. I raised an eyebrow. "Have…you been able to see things with those again?"

He shrugged and picked up the deck. "I've been trying to—let's just say Sirena inspired me to get in touch with my own powers." He gave me a sympathetic look—after all these years, I couldn't hide any emotions him. At least not when I was right in front of him. "Is something wrong?"

I sat down across from him and explained everything that had happened. He listened with the same patience and kindness that he had always treated me with. "Well Aster, can you hardly blame Zane for believing you to be judgmental? You haven't exactly been the must trusting person in the past."

"Maybe so, but I have legitimate reasons this time." I explained. Sartorius shuffled his cards as he listened. "I just don't trust the way Evelyn's been acting, nor do I trust the way she makes Zane act."

He glanced down at his deck and stopped shuffling them. "There might be a way to tell if you're assumptions are correct—although I can't guarantee accuracy."

I raised an eyebrow, unsure if I wanted to put my correct problems in the hands of a tarot deck. "I don't know…Couldn't I just use Sirena's abilities?"

"Sirena's abilities, though powerful, won't allow you to peer into the soul of this Evelyn, nor will they show you how to stop her ultimate plan." Sartorius looked desperate as he persuaded me. "This is a chance for me to see if my powers are real or not; please at least give it a try Aster."

Well, I was willing to take pretty much any help at this point. My fight with Zane could have been worse, but what if it eventually progressed? I could lose him for good. But I'd be damn if I was going to stand idly by and let Evelyn hurt him either. I loved him too much to allow that to happen.

"Alright, let's give it a shot." I decided. Sartorius tried to conceal his joy as he flipped over the first card.

He flipped each card—looking at the first couple with complete observation. "Odd…it appears to saying that you are both correct and wrong in your assumptions. Some how, Evelyn is using Zane but…not in the way you think she is."

That wasn't much help. I was starting to have second thoughts about this. "Do they say anything else?"

Sartorius flipped over another card. "This card represents black mail. It appears as though Evelyn plans to hold something over Zane but….for justifiable reasons."

"What's considered justifiable?" I said, finding myself growing more and more impatient. "What has Zane done to deserve misery or agony? He's paid his dues."

"Aster please, I can only reveal what the cards tell me…"

"Sartorius, I'm sorry…But they've told me nothing…"I reached over to grab a card, bent on proving my point when my hand brushed against the crystal ball. A picture flashed through my mind, but I pulled away. It disappeared as quickly as it came. My gaze was caught on the crystal ball—wondering what exactly it had just showed me.

"What is it? Did something happen?" Sartorius asked with curiosity.

"I...I don't know…Sartorius, what exactly does that crystal ball do?"

He looked down at the crystal ball with the same look I had given it. "Its powers tend to vary. Essentially, it reveals a great truth in our lives. Not exactly everything we've ever wanted to know, but…everything we've ever needed to. It gives you information, but not understanding."

The picture I had seen—it was so fast yet so intriguing. I was like a kid walking through the forest on a dark night. I was filled with wonder. The crystal ball had given me a synopsis that I couldn't refuse.

I carefully reached my hand out, pausing briefly before I touched it. Closing my eyes, flesh and glass made contact.

_Polar opposites flashed before me. I saw fire and water, darkness and light, good and evil. My body tensed as electricity spark through out my body. Showing me more and more differences—hot and cold, moon and sun, life and death. Was this some kind of cosmic message? What did it mean?_

_The next scene is surprisingly different. It's a dark rainy night. Ronny, Evelyn's older brother, is sitting in his truck. It's hard to see at first, but it appears as if Ronny is crying, barely wiping the tears away before more came. His truck door flew open, and he's startled._

_"What the fuck are you doing here?" I'm shocked. A girl with heavy make-up steps into the truck. She's wearing a heavy sweater with chains running up the sleeves, and baggy pants with rips and even more chains attached. Her hair is braided into dreadlocks and kept away from her face. Her face is painted white with purple eye shadow and matching lipstick. "I thought you were going with your parents…to visit your brother?"_

_This must have been Ollie's sister, Louisa Duncan. She smiled a purple smile._

_"They told me that you weren't welcome to see him anymore. That you were responsible for what happened to him." That voice was eerily familiar._

_He laughed a sadistic laugh. "Really? Me? Those hypocrites should look themselves in the mirror. Ollie wasn't a monster until they made him one!"_

_She nodded in agreement. "Maybe…. But that didn't give you the right to prescribe him anti-depressants did it, Doctor? Or all the other medication you gave him."_

_"I found the pills in Ollie's room you know." She continued. Not caring that Ronny had started to sob harder. "It's kind of ironic, isn't it? You tried to help my brother but… it just ended up making him more crazy. That and that stupid boyfriend of his. Stupid man-whore." _

_"So what? Are you going turn me into the police now? Like the good little girl you are?" Ronny said flatly. Louisa tensed as if taking every word as offense, but kept her little smile._

_"No…I have better plans for you." Her hand reached over to wipe his tears with her sleeve. He shivered at the feel of her chains. She then wiped her wet sleeve over her face. The act seemed disgusting to me, but for whatever reason, calmed Ronny down._

_I couldn't believe it—the make-up washed off her face and I saw the girl behind the mask. I didn't even know what was real anymore. And this was proof._

_Louisa—or Evelyn as I have come to know her as—smiled._

_"You're going to help me get the hell out of here."_

_()_

_The rest flashed before my eyes. A dead body—a tall woman is sitting in the driver's seat of a car. Louisa is sitting on the other side. In one hand, I see a bottle of vodka, in the other, I see a match. Louisa holds them equally apart, contemplating the decision I knew she was trying to decide. I was yelling out for her not to—thinking of the dead person beside her. Dear god, did she kill her? Did the woman have a family? What happened to her? My questions would never be answered. They would be burned to ashes. I watched as Louisa lit the match and threw it into the bottle. She then smashed the bottle at the woman's feet. The flames exploded and created a supernova of epic proportions. Soon everything was engulfed by fire—including the body that had since been renamed Louisa._

Sartorius pulled me away from the crystal ball. My body still jerking from the experience. I screamed horrified sounds, trying to make sense of what I had just seen. Sartorius tries to calm me down.

"Aster! Aster stop!"

I couldn't, my body wouldn't let me. I fought against him— not being able to explain exactly why I had to get away from him to begin with.

"Sartorius what's going on?" I heard Larius yell. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, just come help me!"

Larius grabbed my shoulders and forced me down. Sartorius placed his hands on either side my head. My body began to relax—instead of fear, a weird calming feeling went through me. I could still see the fiery dead woman—but I just didn't care anymore.

My screams died down as I blacked out. Temporarily free from the vision that would haunt me for a very long time.

**Zane's POV**

I could hardly believe how revved up the duel had made me. I had expected Evelyn to do fairly well, and maybe even win. But I was amazed to see just how powerful she was. She had crushed her first opponent with excelled precision. I couldn't have been more proud of her.

"And in her dueling premiere, Evelyn Francis has crushed her opponent!" She seemed genuinely happy to have won her first duel, and she deserved to be.

"Zane!" Evelyn yelled, embracing me after she came off the field. "I can't believe it! We did it!"

"You did a great job." I said. Gently letting her lower herself from my arms. As happy as hugging my protégée made me; I still missed Aster.

I had tried to call him all day today when I wasn't working with Evelyn. Never once did he respond. I had resigned myself to the fact that he was, for the time being, unwilling to work this out. Part of me was completely unwilling to play his games—knowing I was right in demanding my privacy. Another was feeling terribly guilty—because I had gone too far and because I didn't feel worse about it.

It was true; I knew I should have been in complete despair at not having Aster at my side. I had always felt lonely and lost if he spent more than a day away from me. And I still did, but not with the same intensity that I usually did. I found it weird but also to be some what a relief. I wouldn't have been able to focus if I was pining for Aster all day.

"Are we still going to celebrate at your place?" Evelyn asked. "Ronny's not going to be able to make it but we can still party."

Well, it was better than going home to an empty apartment. Plus, after all her hard work, Evelyn deserved to celebrate her victory. "Sure, let's go."

()

"Hey, is it okay if I use your bathroom quick?" She asked as I got out a bottle of sparkling cider and a bag of chips.

"Sure…It's right next to the bedroom." She gasped a breath of relief and ran for the bathroom.

"Thanks!" I laughed as she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. The time vaguely reminded me of when I first brought Aster to my apartment. He had been so drunk that he threw up on my bathroom floor. At the time, I was annoyed that I had to clean it up. Now I looked at the memory with fondness, remembering it as the night we first connected.

I sighed; no, I couldn't dwell on how much I missed him now. Evelyn deserved a party without complications or me being depressed about Aster walking out. "Where are the plastic cups?" I muttered, before I remembered Aster had stored some in the closet for my 'birthday party'.

I walked over and opened it up, finding them clear as day on the top shelf. I reached up to pull them down. Something fell from the shelf and on to the floor. When I looked down, I saw it was a card with my name on it. It must have been my gift from aster.

Curious, I picked it up and peered at it. I knew I should have just put it back but in my current state I was vulnerable. I opened the card envelope and looked inside. A ring fell into my hand. It was a shining gold light with a deep inscription. I narrowed my eyes to peer closer—it was a Latin phrase, but I couldn't make it out.

I pulled out the card and opened it. My eyes read through the message and absorbing every word.

_Dear Zane,_

_This ring belonged to my father. It was a gift from my mother when she found out she was pregnant with me. My dad said it symbolized the joining of our family. I've decided to give you this ring—to reflect the joining of our two worlds into one. The phrase I had engraved is something my father said to me to often, that sums my feelings in a basic matter. I love you very much, and always will forever._

_Love, Aster._

I found myself laughing—this was just so….uncharacteristic of him. So unexpected. Yet never in my life, have I ever felt so much love. He was going to give this to me for my birthday, while I had been so inconsiderate of his feelings. I felt horrible.

With Evelyn still in the bathroom, I got out my phone. I tried to call him again. When it went to voicemail, I left a simple message. Hoping he would hear this one. "Hero, I want you to come home…I'm sorry we fought. Just please, come home. I love you."

I hung up the phone, the loneliness I had managed to push off finally setting in. How could I have allowed the man I loved to walk out the door like he didn't matter? How could I have been mad at him about a birthday party when he was going to give me this as a gift? I'm not sure how, but I intended to fix it anyway I could.

By the time I was done, I noticed Evelyn still hadn't returned from the bathroom. I walked over and gently knocked on the door. "Evelyn? I'm sorry, but you're going to have to take a rain check on the party…Are you okay?"

"Yeah…Just fine." There was something odd about her answer. Her voice was flat and indifferent. It suggested that it was anything but fine—but not necessarily from her.

The shaking sound didn't make it any better. It sounded briefly like a can of peanuts. But it could only be one thing. My pills.

"What the hell are you doing in there?" My hand started twisting the door knob, I used my weight to bang the door open and saw Evelyn—perhaps truly for the first time.

She was dumping the unmarked pills Ronny had given me down the toilet. I watched with wide eyes as she hit the plunger with little or no hesitance. My face grew red with fury. "What….What did you just do?"

She turned to me a smug smile I had seen on so many people. I had seen a similar smile on Aster the first time we ever duel. I had seen that smile on Shrouds face when he had caught me in a touch position. I had ever seen that look when I was Hell Kaiser. But the person she resembled most of all—was Ollie Duncan when he thought he had ended my life.

My god—Aster had been right.

She crossed her arms, confident she had checkmate. "I've got you exactly where I want you…You're going to help me."


	7. Deception

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 7: Deception

**Zane's POV**

I glared down the girl I had believed to be my protégée, my hope of continuing on my dueling. How could I have been so blind? How could I have allowed her to betray me?

Louisa Duncan (the smile resembled Ollie's too closely for me to believe anything) let the empty pill bottle dangle from her hand. "Ronny wasn't completely honest about the pills I'm afraid…" She tossed the bottle to the floor and stepped over it, leaving it to be forgotten. "He forgot to mention that the pills have one tiny side-effect. They're highly addictive, you've had a consistent supply of them so you've never noticed but now…Lets just see how you handle yourself."

When she tried to walk out, I firmly slammed my hand against the wall, refusing to let her go. "I think I need a little more information than that. Like how about explaining how you can be here when supposedly you died over a month ago."

Louisa stood eye to eye to me. Her body was glowing with the same smug superiority her brother carried. "We staged it. Ronny stole the body of a dead homeless person from the hospital morgue and that was the body they found in the car where I…" She put her hands up to make quotation motions. "'Started the car on fire in an obvious attempt to end her life'. At least that's what the newspapers said. After that, Ronny and I fled for Japan. Hoping to find you."

"So you could get revenge on me…." I whispered, surprised at the even tone in my voice. Inside I was boiling. And panicking—what could I do without my pills? What if I started getting weak again?

Louisa seemed terribly unsympathetic towards her brother's plight. "Ollie probably got exactly what he deserved. My parents may be blind to who he ended up becoming, but I wasn't. Ollie let himself get all obsessed over that idiot Atticus Rhodes and allowed himself to be destroyed. It's happened before, more times than I care to mention."

The idea of Ollie being so dangerously obsessive over anyone else gave me shivers. I doubted that any of them held a candle to what Ollie had done to get Atticus's attention. "So…if you're not here to avenge Ollie—why did you do all this?"

"Why?" Louisa said in disbelief. "Isn't it obvious? Because my parents are just as crazy as Ollie is that's why! Just as obsessive too. They ignored me for years because they always thought he was the star and he was the one. Only when he went to the nut-house, they turned their attentions to me. And I'd be damned if I was going to let them do to me what they did to him!"

Her eyes narrowed darkly, her voice becoming slightly higher than a growl. "They hit him you know, did all sorts of crazy shit to him to make him a great duelist. One time, Ollie argued with father once and he forced him to sleep outside in the woods with nothing but the shirt on his back. Another time, he skipped dueling class, so my mom forced him to take a cold bath. And those were just the really bad punishments. Most of the time they just beat the hell out of him. You know the tattoos he had? Most of them were to cover scars."

I could hardly believe the horrors the Duncan children have had to face. It did kind of explain Ollie's entire attitude. It never once occurred to me that the monster that had nearly claimed my life might not have been born one. For just a moment, I understood all the things Ollie had done to us. Not forgive him, but I understood him.

"I had to get out of there before they did the same to me. So I faked my suicide and came looking for you. Thinking if I could some how get you under my spell, I could use you to create my new life. And well, Ronny suggested I use the pills. You need me now; and if you refuse my help, not only will you never see these miracle pills again, but I'll tell the public you had them. You know how the media loves these things. Are you prepared to be the druggie of the duel world?"

I wanted to turn her away; make her leave my apartment and never return. No matter her fears, I hated her for what she was doing. She was destroying my life to save her own. "Go ahead; I'll make it just fine without your damn pills! Just get out of here now!"

My moved my arm, allowing her to leave my life. Evelyn swayed past me confidently. But before she left, she poured herself a cup of cider. Taking a slow sip as I glared at her. How could she be so cocky when I refusing to help her? When essentially, all her work to escape her parents would come down to nothing.

She smirked and grabbed her coat. Raising her glass to me. "I'll give you 2 days to change your mind. We'll see how well you do without your damn pills."

And she was gone, just as quickly as she had entered my life. I hoped to god it was the last time I'd ever see her, or any Duncan, ever again. That was painfully doubtful. Something told me even if 24 hours came up, it wouldn't be the last I'd see of Louisa Duncan.

My cell phone started to ring. Aster. I answered it. "Aster?"

"Hey…" He said weakly. I became concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…just really really tired. I've been sleeping all day… Did you mean what you said in your message?"

I sighed. "Yeah, that and more. You were right. I'm sorry I doubted you."

He chuckled softly. "Must have been pretty dead on if you're apologizing like that. I'll be home in a bit okay?"

"I'll be waiting…."

()

When he arrived, Aster was obviously tired but not so much so he needed help walking or anything. He rushed into my arms when he opened the door. I wrapped my arms around him, welcoming him back like it had been years rather centuries.

Sartorius and Larius had come in behind him; neither one of them appeared happy to see me. I guess I couldn't really blame them. Aster pulled away, looking at my hand suddenly. "You found my present?"

I twisted the ring on my finger and nodded. "Yeah, sorry... It's an awesome ring, thank you."

He playfully hit my shoulder. "Maybe but that was your birthday present…"

Larius cleared his throat politely, turning to Aster. "I don't know if you should be entirely friendly with him after what he's done…"

"Actually I do have something to say about that." Sartorius said. Well of course he did. I wasn't really in the mood for a lecture but I guess I didn't have a choice. Sartorius walked up to me, gently moving Aster out of his way.

He looked me in the eye for a moment. I raised an eyebrow wondering what exactly he was waiting for.

_Crack! _Sartorius had punched me right in the cheek.

**Aster's POV**

"What the hell Sartorius?" I yelled, still tired from my day long sleep. When I woke up, it was late at nigh and I had a group of missed calls from Zane. I had been a sleep for almost 24 hours because of a spell Sartorius had casted on me. He said it was to help deal with the trauma of what the crystal ball had showed me. When they had insisted on helping me home, I never once thought Sartorius would try and hurt Zane.

Zane took two steps back, clutching his left cheek. Larius was in complete disbelief as well as I. Sartorius had always held himself with complete composure and dignity. He never once considered violence a proper way to deal with foes. He even went as far as to condemn it. Yet, he had hit Zane with a mystifying strong punch that made him shake his hand for relief.

"Tori!" Larius quickly ran to him as if to prevent him from hitting Zane again. "I don't think that was…"

"It was entirely necessary." Sartorius interupted calmly. Zane looked up at his attacker—besides a red cheek, he appeared fine. Sartorius looked at him in disgust. "I have my feelings about you, but I've always been able to say that you treat him with respect. After yesterday, I'm not sure I could say that anymore."

"I trust you to take care of him and help him when I can't… And if you ever fail that job again, you'll be getting more than a bruise on the face to answer to." I stepped over to help Zane stand up again. He didn't seem so angry about it; in fact, he was completely indifferent.

"You're right….I'm sorry."

"No he's not!" I answered, glaring at Sartorius. "Look, I appreciate all the help you gave me last night, and yes, Zane wasn't using his best judgment. But I'm not a victim here. I said some equally awful things and imposed where I shouldn't have."

Sartorius widened his eyes in disbelief. "You were trying to save him from the worst mistake of his life…"

"And failed—I didn't take care of him either. But we're big kids; we can take care of ourselves. I expect better from you than this!" Sartorius unhinged his jaw, knowing my point to be valid. I eased up my voice and spoke quietly. "I appreciate your concern for me… but everything turned out find and we both have our share of blame."

He sighed deeply, rubbing his hand over his face. "Zane, I apologize for hitting you. I was overcome by my anger and wasn't thinking. It's no excuse to act out in violence."

Zane moved his hand away from his face. "It's alright…If you had done it to him, I probably would have done the same."

The apologies were tension filled and oddly strained but it was close enough for a truce. Larius and Sartorius headed home. I sat Zane down on the couch to get a better look at his cheek. It turned a slight shade of blue, but nothing permanent. I pressed an icepack against his cheek and whistled. "Man, I've never seen Sartorius throw a punch my life, but he sure got you. Remind me never to get on his bad side."

"I think he reserves most of his hatred for me. He seems to think you walk on water, and would probably never hurt you." Zane joked; I laughed softly and pressed the icepack a little harder.

"Maybe if you thought the same, you might not have gotten hit in the first place…. What happened with Evelyn?"

Zane put his hand over the icepack. I moved my hand so that he could hold it. I realized fairly quickly it was to hide the look of shame. "She lied to me. You were right. It was Louisa Duncan."

How was that possible? Louisa Duncan was supposedly 6 feet under in some English grave. The news didn't come as a shock to me but I didn't understand why. Before I could ask, Zane explained. "She and Ronny have been working together to get me under their thumb. I guess the Duncan parents were real jerks and she wanted to get away from them before they did to her what they did to Ollie—I guess they abused him a lot growing up. Now she's trying to blackmail me into helping her set up her new life."

Hearing this brought back the scenes the crystal ball had showed me. From the moment Louisa entered Ronny's car to the woman Louisa had started on fire. I felt sick just remembering it. "So…she faked her suicide by setting her car on fire with a dead woman inside…At least, I hope she was dead."

"She was. Ronny stole her body from the morgue. I'm not sure what his part is in this is…." Zane paused and moved his icepack to look at me. "How did you know the details of how she faked her suicide?"

I hesitantly told him what I could remember about last night. How I had gone to Sartorius looking for answers and found them in a little crystal ball. I told him about how Louisa had blackmailed Ronny into helping her but left out the part about setting the car on fire. Not that it matter, Zane knew that part.

He nodded, as if it all made complete sense. I couldn't find the sense in it. Some poor woman's body was left to burn in Louisa place. Even if Louisa didn't actually kill the woman—she'd forever be lost in someone else's grave. "She was a homeless woman. Not even Ronny knew who she was." He explained softly. If that was meant to make me feel better; it didn't.

"It doesn't make it much better…I can't believe she's sinking so low to get away from her parents. She's even resorted to blackmail!" I recalled how she had corner Ronny, promising to tell on him about the pills he gave Ollie without documented prescriptions if he didn't help her. It seemed like all Ronny had wanted was to help him, but maybe he shouldn't have been so careless about the medications. But Zane wasn't so careless, was he? "What exactly does she have on you anyway?"

He was still for a moment; unsure as to if he wanted to tell me. He did eventually, perhaps feeling that he had no other choice. "Ronny offered me a chance to take this 'experimental' drug that would fix my heart. And it worked; it made me feel a lot better. So much so that I actually dueled Ev…Louisa. But they were using the pills to get me addicted so I'd come back to her for more. On top of that, she threatened to tell the media that I was using those drugs—that was probably an empty threat since Ronny misrepresented the medication but…something tells me the addicting part is true."

"Are you going through withdrawal?" I noticed how his skin (besides the bruise) was paler than usual. He looked cold even beneath his sweater and coat.

"I don't think so—but I'm not due to take another pill for a couple hours. It might take awhile before I know whether or not she's bluffing but… She just seemed completely confident about it." Something else crossed my mind. A few days ago Zane seemed stronger and healthier than he had been in a long time. Was that an effect of the pills?

"You didn't tell me about this? Why did you keep it from me?" I asked, not really expecting an answer. I already knew why. Because I would have said no and tried to persuade him from it. And the promise of being able to duel again was just too powerful for anyone – even me—to quench.

He took my hand; my father's ring gleaming even in the darkness. "I'm sorry Aster. But….I just wanted control over something in my life, and I felt like maybe this was the only thing that could give it to me….And…."

I sighed, pulling my hand away gently. "And it ended being the thing that took what control you had over your life away…" I glanced up at the clock. I was getting tired again—I hoped that it was a temporary set back thanks to Sartorius's spell and not a permanent effect. "I'm getting tired, and I'm sure you are too… I think we should just go to bed and finish discussing this in the morning."

He didn't stop me from rising up from the couch and going into our bedroom to get ready for bed. Through my nighttime routine, I tried to force down the pain I felt in my heart. If only Zane had trusted me… Why hadn't he trusted me?

I loved him. I wanted nothing more than to climb into his arms and wait for the world to be right again. But in our bed, we were separated by a foot, both our backs facing the other. It was sad—it made me depressed, but mostly, it just made me tired.

But tomorrow was another day. We'd wake up and find a way around this. That's what we always did. We made it work one way or another. At least I hoped that was the case, because the second option sounded less appealing.


	8. Aches and Pains

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 8: Aches and Pains

**Aster's POV**

The nightmares had returned for last night and this night. The same old white room with hardwood floors dream. Only this time, there was a twist. In my dreams, I had always been the one laying in this room—dying or already dead. This time, it wasn't the case. The homeless dead woman was the one I would find lying dead on the floor, looking oddly peaceful yet terrifyingly haunting. I would later come to call this woman Lenore, finding a strange comfort in giving the woman a name.

Lenore's body began to burn up. Her skin melting away until you see her entire existence. She was like gold or silver being melted into a simpler liquid form. Only gold didn't make me sick even in my dream state. I could barely stand this sight but was given no choice in the matter. I could only scream silently and hope for the pain to end.

And it did. I woke up to find myself still in the light of night. My head was sweaty and my breath was uneven, but at least it was over with. No, it probably wasn't actually. If these dreams continued, I might have to go back on my anxiety pills, which would mean that any progress I had made getting past Ollie would amount to nothing.

I flipped over to see if I had woke Zane up—only to discover that he wasn't in the bed at all. His side as hastily unmade, but still a little warm. He must have woken up shortly before I did. I sat myself up and looked around the bedroom. The door to the living room was open like it had been earlier. But I noticed the bathroom door was almost closed. It was no more than an inch open, but that was more closed than it had been before we went to sleep. There were two things I noticed about today. One was that Zane and I had yet to patch the obvious anger and tension between us (mostly from me) today. Although neither of us left the apartment, we didn't do anything together. Honestly, it was rare for us to be in the same room.

The other thing I noticed was how nervous Zane was getting. How he'd go to the bathroom to take his pills and realize that the one he really wanted wasn't there. He complained about having a headache and took many naps, but some how it didn't make his illness better. If anything, it seemed to get worse. And I didn't offer any help on the matter. Now that I thought about it, I felt really guilty that I didn't.

"Zane?" I called out. When I got no answer, I got up and walked towards the bathroom. My fingers tapped lightly on the door. "Zane, are you okay?"

A small groan was what I heard. Going with my instinct, I opened the door and slowly walked in. Zane was sitting on the floor, leaning his head against the bathtub. His skin was a sickly green and breathing a hollowed life. It didn't take long to realize that this was a direct effect of withdrawal. Eve-Louisa had been right. The pills were addicting.

I kneeled down the floor next to him. Caressing my hand over his bruised cheek. It was hot to the touch. "What's wrong?"

"I feel sick." He answered. Not exactly helpful for determining how bad this withdrawal was. I had heard that sometimes withdrawal could send you into seizures or make you have a heart attack. Considering this was heart medication, the heart attack wasn't too farfetched. He elaborated for me. "I'm…nauseous, and cold. My head hurts and I get weak when I try to get up."

Well, that didn't sound fun. Fortunately, it didn't sound lethal either. "Have you vomited at all?" He nodded. "How many times?"

"Two." Zane recalled. My hand touched his burning forehead. He was coming down with a fever. "The last time I threw up was 15 minutes ago."

"Do you think you could get back into bed?" I asked. I considered trying to carry him but I couldn't see how I could. Even with his heart condition, Zane was somewhat stronger physically than I was, in the sense that he was able to pick me up and carry me. Not easily, he'd add, but was able to do so none the less. I didn't have so much faith in myself to believe I could do the same.

He nodded again. "If you can help me…"

His arm wrapped around my neck and I helped lift him onto his feet. Slowly but surely, we walked back into the bedroom and I got Zane back into bed. He tried to bury himself in blankets but I wouldn't let him. "No honey…You have to wait for the fever to go down."

I was surprised by the softness in my voice and my use of a pet name. I never cared much for nicknames so I never bothered to give Zane one, and I only let him use a few nicknames with me. This situation called for a gentle, nurturing, touch. Like the one my father always gave me when I was sick or ill. He always went out of his way to make the situation as easy on me as possible.

"I'll be right back okay? Just…lay here and wait." I left briefly get him a glass of water and a cool damp rag. I returned quickly and placed the washcloth over his forehead. I helped him drink the water, allowing him to only take small sips. "You know, this is a little too maternal for my taste."

He managed to laugh even in his current condition. That brought a smile to my face. "I suppose you never agreed to take care of me when we started this, huh?"

"I never thought I'd have to take care of anybody. All these years I've been too concerned with taking care of myself." I stated, realizing just how untrue that had become. After Zane's aneurysm and my disaster, Zane and I had learned to take care of each other. It felt like second nature to me now. Somehow, in these past few months, I've learned how to need someone and be needed in return. And I wasn't sure how to feel about that. "My dad always did this stuff for me when I got sick."

"You got sick?"

"Yeah, I know right? It freaked my dad out when I did. Even if he had work to do, he refused to leave my side until I got better. He'd even bring his sketchbook into my room."

"Really? I don't think even my own mother hovered that much." Zane said weakly. "And that's saying something."

I shrugged; I had my own theories as to why he was so over-bearing when I was sick. "My mother got really ill about three weeks before I was due….it pushed her into early labor and I was born premature. I think my dad always thought if he had taken better care of her when she was ill, she might have survived."

"But…from what I heard, my mother was always really sickly. Smartest woman in the world some would say, she was a professor you know. Taught mathematics and computer programming. Kind of a like a new age Ada Lovelace."

These were all things I had only heard about her. My father always said that I inherited her fiery spirit and high I.Q. but I wouldn't really know. This woman literally knew me all of two seconds before she took her last breath. Zane didn't seem to mind that I was going on and on about my mother. It seemed to take his mind off things.

"Do you feel any better?" I asked after awhile.

"Not really." Well, so much for my dad's home remedies. "You know…All day today, all I could think about were those damn pills, and that was hours ago….Some how even when I feel like I'm dying, I still want them."

I frowned. "Well they did make you feel better… I suppose being addicted is a small price to pay for…"

"They made me loose control. I couldn't think straight with them because all I could think about was how they were going to let me duel again." He leaned back against the headboard and sighed. "I'm sorry I kept it from you. Even if it was my life; you're apart of it now. You should at least know what you're getting into."

I rolled my eyes and removed the rag, setting it besides the empty glass. "Zane, look at all the crap I've gone through with you. You got me through a lot of hard stuff and I've done the same for you. It's going to take a lot more then a crazed woman and a couple pills to change that."

He smiled with humor. "Maybe being together just draws a lot of bad mojo."

"Maybe." I responded, noticing that Zane was starting to fall asleep again. He wrapped and arm around me and nuzzled into my chest. I put my chin on the top of my head, knowing this to be a rare opportunity to do so. "But come hell or high water, I refuse to give up."

I sighed, stroking his shoulder gently. Behind him, the alarm clock read 2 a.m. "Happy birthday, Zane."

**Zane's POV**

"Well, that's everybody." Aster said, hanging up his cell phone. I was still feeling ill when the morning came, so we decided it was better to push my birthday party back to next week. I was resting soundly on the couch, still fighting the urge in the back of my head to get my hands on those pills. "I'm glad we'll get to spend your birthday alone, but it sucks that you have to be sick."

The over whelming feeling made my head spin. "I can tough it out…How long can this last?"

He leaned over the couch and looked down at me. "Up to two weeks—but I doubt you'll feel like this for that long…maybe two or three more days."

There was a knock on the door. I stared at it confused, wondering if someone had told Aster they were stopping by. He shrugged. "I didn't think anyone was supposed to come over."

He walked over and opened the door. Atticus burst in, holding himself in high regard. When his eyes found me, he seemed surprised. "Wow, you look terrible."

"And you forgot to take your shoes off again." I countered.

"Can we just forget that damn rule?" Aster said. He closed the door and turned to Atticus. "Didn't you get my message? The birthday party got pushed back."

"Actually, no but that's not why I'm here." Atticus reached into his pocket and pulled out an unmarked pill bottle. I sub-consciously sat up and leaned forward. They were the heart pills Ronny had given me. "Ronny told me the truth. I convinced him to give me the pills so we could wean you off of them."

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Aster asked. I tried to stop the panicked feeling of those pills being anywhere but here.

"It can be more difficult to make him go cold turkey than it would be to slowly take him off. That's probably why he feels so sick. Besides, it's not the pills can hurt him. It's just a matter of getting rid of his dependence on them." He opened the pill bottle and took one pill out—my usual does had been two. He closed the pill bottle and shoved it back into his pocket. He walked over and offered me the pill. Forgetting my pride, I grabbed and swallowed the pill without water. "I'll keep them with me so he can't get to them."

I glared at Atticus. "I am still in the room you know."

"Your welcome." Atticus laughed and stood up straight. His mood turned sober again in an instant. "After I found out, I broke up with Ronny."

"Good. They lied to us… " I said, still thirsty for the pills, but feeling slightly better all ready. It must have been knowing that I had them, since it was too early for it to take effect. Aster sat on the arm of the couch with a thoughtful look.

"When the crystal ball showed me the conversation between Louisa and Ronny, she had said something about medication to Ronny. I think she was using something to blackmail him."

"So much for that…" We all turned to the door. Louisa was standing in the doorway, her face obviously not pleased with the scene in front of her. Ronny was steps behind her, closing the door like a loyal lackey. What right did that little liar and her pet have walking in my room like she owned the place? "Times up Zane….Think you can still last without the pills?"

Ronny pulled a bottle, exactly like Atticus's, out of her jacket. His actions were far from willing; he seemed to be having a constant fight with himself with every move. Each time, he sent a sorrowed filled look to Atticus. "You can have as many as you want… All you have to do is pretend I'm still Evelyn Francis." Louisa said with a smirk.

My eyes were set on the pills, watching them with longing need. Before I lost my control, Aster stepped in between us. "Get the hell out my apartment now!"

"I wouldn't speak to me like that when I could destroy your boyfriend at any moment." She peered past Aster. "I could tell the entire world about how Zane Truesdale took experimental pills to try and fix his heart."

"Then we'll tell your parents where you are, Ms. Duncan." Atticus stood next to Aster. The two men stood firm, ready to fight my battle. "I bet momsie and daddy would be thrilled to find out that their little princess is alive and well."

"Don't you dare threaten me with that! You have no idea what kind of monsters those people are!" Ronny dropped the pill bottle and grabbed Louisa to keep her from losing control. For a split second my attention was on the pills before I realized just how out of hand Louisa had become. She pushed and tried to jerk away with no avail. Her frustrated grunts soon became low sobs.

I had plenty of reasons to hate this girl and what she had done to me. I could have hated her just for being Ollie's sister, or because of how she had made my life spiral out of control. I should have found her tears to be amusing. Just rewards. It was exactly what that evil little creature deserved.

But seeing her cry made me realize something I had never even considered. According to Louisa, Ollie had been made into the person he had become. That thanks to her parents harsh punishments and controlling hands, he had little or no regard for human life. Maybe the reason Ollie had gone so far to get Atticus's attention was because he wanted someone to love him but not hurt him. Maybe Ollie wasn't a crazed mad man with an evil agenda, but a desperate child reaching for a lifeline.

"Men like you took advantage of Ollie!" She screamed at Atticus in an unnaturally raspy voice. "You made him believe that you loved him and when he realized you didn't, it made him insane!"

"It was nothing like that!" Aster yelled back. Atticus appeared too guilt ridden to defend himself. "Your brother was crazy before he even met Atticus."

"But he wasn't born that way." She finally pulled away from Ronny but tumbled to the floor. Tears falling down her face faster than her hands could wipe away. "He was made that way….I was made this way…"

Louisa was a feral animal fighting for survival. She didn't want to succumb to the same evil that had inflicted her brother. She looked terrified of falling into that world. She looked more like an injured kitten than a ferocious lion. Did I trust her? No. Did it the means justify the end? Not to me. But to Louisa, it might have been her only option.

I managed to stand up despite my jello like muscles, and raging headache. I placed my hand on Aster's shoulder, making him look back to me. After recapturing my strength I kneeled to the floor. Louisa didn't seem to notice— she continued to sob.

"If you want to stay away from your parents, you'll have to work with me instead of against me." I said simply. I looked up to Ronny, who looked completely speechless. "We'll all have to work together."


	9. One Week Later

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 9: One Week Later

**Zane's POV**

I buttoned up my white-dress shirt as we were getting ready for my rescheduled birthday party. I didn't feel like going out tonight but decided to suck it up for tonight. The sooner I got back out and lead a normal life; the sooner I'd be able to create one for myself.

"Ronny's here." Aster said unenthused. I turned to see him walking into our bedroom. For tonight's occasion, he was wearing a pair of skin-fitting (but somehow not tight) jeans. He was buttoning a black dress shirt over a dark blue wife-beater. "He said he wanted to talk to you before the party tonight."

I finished buttoning my own shirt and sighed. "Alright, I suppose I should go talk to him then." We were about to walk past each other when I reached out my arm so I could wrap it around his stomach. I took a second look over him. "You look really good…"

"Not so bad yourself." Aster said in the most flirtatious way possible. He wasn't a huge tease or flirt, but when he decided to shake things up, he did an awesome job. "White's a good color for you."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about black on you." I added jokingly. "Where did the jeans come from?"

He gently pushed my arm away and smiled. "I borrowed them…Now go hurry up and talk to Ronny. We don't have a lot of time."

I nodded in agreement and walked out to the other room. Ronny looked fairly distraught even in his calm state. He offered a polite nod. "I'm sorry, I know you have plans tonight but I'm afraid we may have an emergency on our hands. I've some news to tell you, but before I do, I'd like to explain to you my connection to Ollie and Louisa…"

"You're not going to tell me this so I can pass the word on to Atticus, are you?" I wondered out loud. "Because he honestly seems pretty done with you."

He waved his hand to show that wasn't the case. "I've come to accept the reason Atticus dated me in the first place—I don't like it, but I can hardly blame him…. This is solely about Louisa."

I shrugged and sat down, ready to hear Ronny's story. "Just make it quick, please."

He was put off my indifference to the situation but persisted anyway. "You see….I met Ollie while I was in college. He was about 16 at the time. I had gone to a bar with a couple of my colleagues and he was there, getting drunk and starting fights. I knew that unless he got out of there, the police were going to take him away. So I decided to drive him home. Well, he started begging me not to take him home, so I let him stay at my place instead. And…we remained friends after that-After he turned 17, we started dating for awhile but Ollie was depressed during that time. There were times where I stayed up all night with him on the phone because I was afraid he would kill himself while I was asleep."

"I decided that he needed anti-depressants but his parents refused—their personal belief being that no one really needed them. Well, what was I suppose to do? I honestly thought if he didn't do something about his depression he would die. So I started sneaking medicine to him. Sure enough, he got better. But when his parents found out; they were furious. His father…well, his father hired people to come to my apartment and…"

He didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he rolled up his sleeve to reveal an ugly scar that started from his shoulder to his elbow. I hissed quietly at the injury.

"Ollie's dad did that to you?" Ronny nodded.

"He told me that If I went anywhere near Ollie again, they would make it so I'd never get my medical license…When I broke up with Ollie, he threatened to kill himself but I told him that if he promised not to…I'd find a way to get the pills to him. I wanted him to be happy, even if I wasn't with him."

"We transported the medicine back and forth for awhile until Ollie met another man. Then….he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. He used Louisa to send the message to me. It was a bitter-sweet thing. I still loved Ollie, but the communication with him was dangerous and sad. It was a huge relief when Ollie left my life. That was until I read the paper and found out that Ollie was spending his days in a mental institution.

He gently scratched his scar and sighed. "I blame everyone for what happened to Ollie—you, Mr. Phoenix, myself…I always believed because I was the first love of his life, I had started a never ending line of desperate and failed relationships. But the people I blamed the most were the Duncan's." He mentioned their name with heavy malice. "Louisa wasn't exaggerating about them—they were cruel to him during his life time and kept him for the most part sheltered. They're extremely ruthless. They'd do anything to stop someone if they thought that person was in their way…That's why Louisa figured it was best to simply leave until she could legally be on her own."

He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket. I was confused until he elaborated. "I received this email from Caroline Duncan early this morning."

He walked over and offered me the message. I grabbed it and read out loud for both of us to hear. "Dear Mr. Frances, how are you? Has the doctor business been treating you well? Orville is doing well; the doctors are saying that he soon might be able to use complete sentences…." I trailed off at that part but Ronny encouraged me to continue reading. "My husband and I were watching the news the other night when an amazing occurrence came up…We saw on the news that your sister, Evelyn, was now in the pro leagues and performing well for an amateur. Quite impressive…What amazed me the most though is how much of a resemblance your sister bared to our little Louisa, god rest her soul. .. The resemblance was almost uncanny."

"I know my daughter well. She's a manipulative, little brat. But I also know she's more intelligent then most people are…So intelligent, I bet she found a way to force you into helping her frame her death…I have a feeling I know exactly what kind of dirt she's using, so I will be frank. Give Louisa back to us immediately, or we will have you arrested for kidnapping her—assuming that the police get to you before my husband does….We'll be expecting your call in no more than five days." I cursed under my breath.

"My sentiments exactly." He soberly took the message back. "My fear is that our only option may be to leave the country. If what Caroline has said is true and Mr. Duncan is on his way to us, then we may have a very small window to escape."

"Has Louisa seen this yet?" I asked. Ronny shook his head. "Running isn't going to do you a lot of good. Sure you get away for the moment, but how long before the Duncan's find you both again? Probably not long…The best option is for Louisa to go to the media and tell her story."

Ronny looked at me as if I was completely out of my mind. "Apparently, you didn't listen to a word of my story. The Duncan's will do anything to get Louisa back into their hands even if that means eliminating me or you to do it. They're certainly willing to pull Louisa back into their clutches with the public light on them."

"We could hire people to help keep her safe. Bodyguards, police, whatever… Going to the media will get her the support she needs to get emancipated and away from her parents for good." I reasoned. Ronny was covering his face with his hands; unsure of what to do. "We all may have to come forward with our parts in this…I might have to tell everyone how Louisa lied to me and forced me to help her using the heart medication. And you may have to come clean about your relationship with Ollie, the pills, the dead woman, everything…"

"I don't care about that." Ronny said quietly. I raised my eyebrow, wasn't the whole reason he helped Evelyn because she threatened his reputation. "I didn't help her just because she knew I had been sneaking pills to Ollie…. I helped her because Mr. and Mrs. Duncan are dangerous and I wanted to do for her what I couldn't do for Ollie. I don't want to, but I would come forward if I thought it would help her."

Ronny clenched and opened his fist, trying to work to a solution. But I think he drew the same conclusion I did. "We'd have to be quick…and I'd have to get Louisa to agree to it."

"Just tell her it's that or we hand her over to the Duncan's." I said simply. Ronny narrowed his eyes but I shrugged. "I've done more for her than any other person would have after what she did….I think any ultimatum she gets should be considered a blessing."

"I'll talk to her and let you know….Have a nice night." Ronny turned to leave but stopped. Facing me again to make his final piece. "There's a very real chance I could loss my medical license over this. I've accepted that—it's my fault for feeling sorry for a messed-up boy with a bad home life. But the way I see it, Louisa's my last chance at redemption, and she just might be yours too. I'm not sure if you feel guilty about her having to run from her parents or what happened to Ollie or if it's something else from your past—all I know is that you feel guilty and you're using her to fix it. Just remember this—if you fail her, you'll just end up hating yourself more."

He left the apartment, and we followed soon after.

**Aster's POV**

"I have to say," He said hours after the 'party' started. More accurately, it was myself, Zane, Syrus, Chazz, Jaden, Jesse, Sirena, Alexis and Atticus all at one table in a very impressive restaurant. I was holding Zane's hand under the table as he whispered in my ear. "This is turning out to be a very nice evening."

I knew he meant it. After everything that happened with Louisa, this get together was a nice vacation away from the real world. I'm sure I had a smug look on my face. "I told you I could throw a party."

Alexis raised her glass of wine. "To Zane! The best friend a girl or in most of our cases, a guy could ask for." She said sweetly. Sirena smiled nervously at Alexis. It had been over two weeks since they've started hanging around and they were still at 'close friend' status. It must have been going pretty well though if Sirena was willing to come to Zane's birthday dinner.

"I'll second that." Jaden said politely, before standing up completely. "But um…not to take away from Zane's big night but I figured now would be a good time for our big announcement."

Zane looked at me questionably but I didn't know anything about this. Jesse blushed and smiled widely. "Are you sure now's a good time?"

"Might has well." Zane said intrigued. Once he had Zane's approval, Jesse stood up with Jaden.

"Well, a few nights ago, I…" He laughed nervously and continued. "I asked Jaden to marry me and…"

"I said yes!" Jaden said flashing his gold engagement ring with a crimson ruby in the middle. Wow, that was unexpected. I glanced down at the ring I had given ring and wondered what it was about rings lately.

Everyone else looked as shocked as I did. "Wow," Alexis said after a short time.

"I need another drink." Chazz declared, pouring himself a second glass of wine. Zane seemed to enjoy the announcement. He stood up and shook hands with both Jaden and Jesse.

"Congratulations. I guess you two will have another thing to celebrate around my birthday." And just like that, everyone was happy again. Hell, everyone was enthralled. The party seemed to pick up with an even happier feeling than before.

That was until I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Sirena leaned over and whispered something into Alexis's ear. Her smile faded and she looked to Sirena in shock. I realized that Sirena had just revealed her feelings to Alexis.

When Alexis looked to Sirena, the miko's face turned sober. I remembered Sartorius baring that same look after I told him that I didn't love him like he loved me. Her heart was breaking—practically melting in her chest because the first person she had ever loved had rejected her.

Sirena stood up and bolted from the table. Alexis and I got up at the same time. "Stay here; I'll go talk to her." I decided. Zane switched confused glances back and forth but I had to go. I couldn't let Sirena leave alone; not like this.

I sailed across the restaurant and got outside as quickly as possible. Sirena was sitting on a bench in front of the business down the street. Her hands were covering her face but I was sure she was crying. I sighed and prepared myself to comfort her.

Something terrible happened then. A car pulled up and stopped in front of her. Two men jumped out of the back and grabbed Sirena. My heart raced as I bolted down the street. She tried to scream but they covered her face using a cloth, eyes and all. They twisted her hands behind her back and were trying to force her back in the car. "Hey! Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

One of the men turned—I was ready to block a punch or a grab but instead, he had a syringe in his hand. The needle broke the skin in my hand and injected itself into my bloodstream. I tried to pull my hand away as quickly as possible but it was too late. My vision was becoming blurry as the world started to spin. My stomach felt queasy as my head became oblivious to everything that existed outside of it. The fast acting drug had me down on my knees as I fought the urge to vomit.

_"Should we take him too?"_ I heard a fading voice ask. I could still feel and hear; but my body refused to listen to what my sense were trying to tell me. It was like the message was sent, but it never reached its destination.

_"No, leave him. We'll be long gone before it wears off."_ A deep yet womanly voice said. I heard the sound of faded screaming. Not Sirena's, I was able to note—but it was someone I knew. Someone who made me very unhappy but I couldn't remember. My mind was slipping farther and farther away and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

I curled into a ball as the car pulled away. I felt sad-disappointed. Angry at myself but, to me the feelings were unjustifiable. Why did I feel this way? I didn't like it, that's all I knew.

_"Aster! My god, what happened?"_ I heard a panicked voice asked. Zane? I knew who he was! A good feeling washed over—I was safe. I'd be okay.

But for the people who had screamed? I still felt bad about. Because I knew they weren't safe. Not as long as they were with the people who had done this to me.


	10. Quick Fix

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 10: Quick Fix

**Zane's POV**

"Is this the place?" Alexis asked me as we pulled into the hospital Ronny worked at. Her hands were shaky on the seat and she had barely been able to help Atticus navigate us there. But somehow, between the three of us, we were able to make it.

Aster laid half way across my lap. His eyes were still and didn't move like he was sleeping with his eyes open. His muscles were still and tense, almost steel against my touch. I had become worried when Aster and Sirena didn't return eventually. I figured if he had left, he would have at least called and informed me of it. When I finally decided to go check on him, Alexis came with me so she could speak with Sirena. That was when we found him—lying curled up in the streets like a lost child.

His state was heart crushing to me. Who would want to do this to him? That question didn't take long to answer—it had to be one of the Duncan's. Mother, Father, maybe even Louisa going back on her deal. That was what lead me to here. If Ronny had allowed Louisa to do this to my boyfriend, I would unleash havoc on him until he fixed it. If it wasn't Louisa's doing, then I could hope that Ronny knew how to fix it.

Atticus pulled up to the hospitals entrance. Alexis exited the car and held the door open for me. I pulled Aster into my arms, fighting against his stiff form. "Come on, don't do this… We need to get you help."

We walked into the building as quickly as possible. Alexis was about to speak to the secretary at the front desk, but pushed on. "I know where Ronny's office is, come on."

"Sir? Ma'am!" The nurse called after us, but I didn't bother to stop. We trekked upstairs like it was the stairway to heaven; our only real hope to save him. Ronny's office was on the second floor, but as soon as we were close enough to see it, I felt like something was wrong. The door was wide open as Ronny liked to keep it, but the lights were off. As we came closer, I saw that the lock had been broken off—someone had broken into Ronny's office.

I carefully peered into Ronny's office—the entire place was trashed. Papers were thrown everywhere, clinging to whatever safety they could find. Ronny's computer was broken besides the wall, indicating it had been thrown there. It was obvious that someone had been here, but the question was if the doctor had been here.

A hand lay just past the desk. I moved forward with Alexis following closely and laid Aster on the desk. When I dropped down to the floor, I saw him—Ronny bloody and beaten to a pulp. "Ronny, what the hell happened to you?"

I heard a grumbling groan as he tried to push himself up. I helped him sit up. His nose was bleeding down his bruised face and on to the floor, but his face seemed to bare the extent of the injuries. "Ollie's dad found me…"

"Does he know where Louisa is?" My voice growing smaller and fearful as I asked. He took a minute to clear out his nose, making the blood splatter more on his body. Without thinking, I ripped the sleeve of my shirt from the elbow down and pressed it against his nose. Willing him to lay his head back. "Come on, Ron, I need answers!"

"She was here with me." He admitted. Trying to take in as much air as he could through his mouth. "They- They made her watch as he beat me. Then they forced her out and left me here. He must have thought that I was going to die."

Ronny pushed my torn sleeve away and tried to stand. "I need to find her….Before they leave with her." He mumbled. I stood up too, trying to keep him balanced.

"We will, but first we need to help Aster…" Ronny saw Aster after allowing himself a moment to stand up and remain up. Momentarily forgetting his injuries, his hands examined his muscles carefully.

"Holy shit," He said breathless. "They gave him a benumbing agent."

"Benumbing, like the potion Juliet used to make herself look dead?" Alexis asked. Her body had finally stopped quivering as we got down to business. I frowned; I was never a big romance story guy but Romeo and Juliet was popular enough that I knew what Alexis's was talking about. It sounded harmless enough as Juliet did eventually wake up from her coma, but something told me the Duncan's hadn't been so kind with their agent of choice.

"Something like that. And I think I know exactly what agent they used." He pried Aster's eyelids farther open, using his pupils to diagnose his patient. "Yeah I do. Fuck—they used sedative number 322XOV."

I was frustrated by all this negative feedback. "So, what does that mean exactly?"

"322XOV is an experimental benumbing agent that was originally used to keep dangerous inmates calm during prison transfers. They use to administer it to mental patients too but they stopped after people started going into comatose states." He took a small light out of his pocket and flashed it into Aster's eyes. "See, his pupils are still focused like he's awake- he's completely aware of surroundings but he can't move or react to any of it."

Aster's eye didn't move but I understood what Ronny was saying. He could hear us, he had an idea of what was going on, but he was stuck in his own body. It must have been hell for him; and I couldn't imagine him going through life like that. "So how do we fix it?"

"The problem isn't getting him out, it's keeping him out."

"What do you mean?" Alexis asked.

I couldn't ignore the tense form of Ronny's shoulders or his frustrated look of anguish. "322XOV constantly rotates in your system. At times, you can wake up and retain full use of your body, but unless he gets the antidote we can't completely get rid of it—we can only suppress it. I can give him a dose of adrenaline to get him out this time, but eventually his body is going to stop reacting to it and he could fall into a comatose state and by that point even the antidotes not a guarantee."

So what? There was no way to win unless he got the antidote? I had a sneaking suspicion that since the Duncan's had given him this stuff, they probably had the cure to it. This meant we'd have to get it from them and to him before it was too late, which would just make getting Louisa back all the more difficult.

But what else could we do? I wasn't going to leave him to suffer while we saved Louisa. We had to give him the adrenaline—at least until we had the more permanent solution.

When I gave Ronny the okay, he left the room to find the things he needed. When he returned, he had an epi pen (no different than the ones used for allergic reactions) and a more scarier-looking AED. He sent them both down and looked to me. "It would be easier for me if I can get a clear shot at his thigh so…you might want to get his pants down, unless it really bothers you then..I could probably do it through the jeans."

Great, because this was totally the time for prim and proper. But I knew in the back of my head Aster would have much preferred me doing this than he would Ronny. I rolled my eyes and awkwardly unbuttoned his pants and brought them down until Ronny had a clear view of his outer thigh. Ronny pulled the cap off and in one swift motion, plunged it into his thigh. I winced as he pulled it out of Aster's skin. "You should massage that area for about a minute."

"Are you always like this around patients boyfriends?" I asked but did as I was told. Alexis sat a chair up for Ronny to sit down so that they could make an analysis of his injuries.

After a moment or so, I grew tired of standing still. I started to pull his pants back on when I heard him say weakly. "What the hell are you doing?"

Aster's eyes blinked slowly at first as he fit himself back into motion. I grabbed his hand and helped him very carefully sit up. He twitched and moaned softly in pain—he must have been stiff from his muscles being tense for so long. "We had to give you a shot of adrenaline and well, you weren't able to do it yourself."

"Well, I guess that's what boyfriends are for." He joked buttoning his pants. His motions were slow and clumsy but he managed simple tasks well. "What did they do to me?"

"They gave you a benumbing agent called 322XOV—and sorry to say, the pen was only a temporary fix. We have to get the antidote or else you'll just go right back to being a vegetable."

"Well then," He said, ever so confident in the face as danger. I learned a long time ago that in the face of his own demise, Aster was always strong and cocky. He just had a way of looking death in the eye and spitting in his face. Thank god he was brave, because I was terrified that I would lose him to this 322XOV thing. "I guess it's just another reason to kick some Duncan ass."

**Aster's POV**

"How could this happen?" Sartorius was yelling. After revealing that Sirena had been kidnapped as well as Louisa, we quickly went over to Sartorius's house to fill him in on the situation. By the time we arrived, he already knew. "Who knows what those people will do to her? We have to get her back before they hurt her."

"It's not that easy." Ronny said—his nose bandaged very poorly in order to preserve time. "The Duncan are rich and powerful people, they have endless resources and will use them for whatever they need."

My head was still a little hazy from the benumbing agent, but pushed myself mentally. Drugged or not, my life was in danger too and I needed to find a way to fix it. "Is it at all possible that they haven't left Japan yet?"

"It's very unlikely. They probably grabbed Louisa and got on the next flight to England." Zane added. He appeared even more upset about the current situation than I was. I found that worrying about the agent would only make things worse and just that much harder to think. But I guess I could understand how Zane would have problems keeping it off his head. "But at least we know where they're going…"

"We do?" Atticus asked. Zane nodded and explained.

"They wouldn't need to kidnap Sirena if they just wanted avenge Ollie. And if they were planning to kill her, they could have simply done it on the streets. Ronny himself said the Duncan's wouldn't hesitate because of a public display." I was confused by the logic but allowed him to continue. "This means that they have a plan for Sirena…"

"Like to bring Ollie back from his insanity?" I said after I realized he was right. It made sense when you first thought about it; she was the one who made Ollie go mad, there for she must be able to bring him out of it. Except there was one huge problem. "She can't bring him back though. She admitted that once she used her mind melt, it took years for someone to become completely sane again if they ever did."

"She'll tell them that." Larius said, holding Sartorius close as he threw in his piece. "They won't believe her at first but after awhile they will and…."

"They won't have her for that long!" I said firmly. "Because we're going to get her back before they can harm a hair on her head." And I think I knew how to find out what the Duncan's were going to do after they reached England.

()

I walked into Sartorius's office alone—explaining my plan in short little bursts before going. Essentially, I figured using the crystal ball like before would give me a better look into the Duncan's frame of mind. After all, it had shown me what Louisa was up to.

For whatever reason, the crystal ball worked for me. It didn't help Sartorius much but it showed me everything I needed to know. At least I hoped it would this time; it may be the thing that gave us the upper hand.

Yet I was afraid. The last time I used it; I was haunted by mutilation of Lenore's body. What horrible visions would I see this time? Would I see any at all this time? Or would that be all I would see? I didn't know but what choice did I have? Louisa's freedom and Sirena's life hung in the balance.

I heard the door open behind me. Zane walked in and closed the door. "What are you doing?"

"I'm here to help you in case things get bad like last time." I had forgotten that I had told him about that. "I'm not going to let you do this alone."

I crossed my arms and stood firm. "I'm perfectly capable of doing this on my own. I have to face this on my own."

"No you don't." Zane sighed, leaning against the wall as he spoke. "It was my fault that you had to use it the first time. If I had taken your word…if I had trusted you, neither of us would be in this mess. You and I would be safe…"

"And Louisa would have no one to save her." I pointed out. Zane seemed shocked that I would push to save her after everything she did to us. But how could I not? Whether I hated her or not, she didn't deserve to be abused and controlled by the very people who were suppose to love and protect her. She wasn't a puppet.

I wouldn't know what it was like to have parents like the Duncan's. I grew up with a loving father who pushed me to do things on my own and make my own choices. Yet, he always extended a loving hand to me; to remind me that I was his son and that he loved me. I could always go to him, even if I had done something terrible. _Te valde amo ac simper amabo. _I love you very much, and always will forever.

My father wouldn't want to turn my back on someone who never knew that feeling. If her parents couldn't be there for Louisa, I had to be there for her. "You can stay but...please give me space, and don't pull me out—even if the agent starts kicking in." He reluctantly nodded and I faced the crystal ball again.

I heaved a heavy sigh; reaching my hand out towards it slowly. I closed my eyes to better allow the visions to come through. Just be brave- be strong.

_The visions from before entered my head. Good and Evil, Fire and Water, Darkness and Light all the things from before essentially. The only difference was fire spread over water and darkness engulfed light. Evil was beating good._

_My vision cleared to a dark car (the one that had taken Sirena away), speeding down a quiet street—a little later this evening, I noted. It must have been. It wasn't quite night yet but the day was obviously nearing its end. _

_The door to the car opened—Louisa was leaning against the car door, preparing to jump out of the car. The goons tried to make a grab but she jumped out, rolling on her side. The landing hadn't been easy; she was wincing in pain but saw that the car had stopped. She quickly got up on her feet and ran into an ally. I couldn't believe it; she had escaped, which meant that her parents were probably still here and there for, Sirena was probably still here._

_My vision switched to a different place. This one being an apartment that was extremely unkempt and very messy. When I saw the medical journals sitting on the coffee table next to four empty cups of coffee, I cold only assume this was Ronny's apartment. _

_Louisa was sobbing uncontrollably against the wall. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chin; like a little girl escaping a thunderstorm. She set her head back and wiped the tears away from her face. _

_One deep breath and her entire aura changed. She had lost hope. So much for getting away. So much for being better than Ollie. So much for being happy. What options did she have? Fall into her parent's hands and allow them to mold her into the very same creature her brother had become? Move on and force her need on someone else like she had done to Zane? No. She felt bad enough about doing it to him. She couldn't do it to anyone else._

_But there was another option._

_She stood up slowly, her hands guiding her up as she did. She turned her body to face the window. Her finger nails traced the bottom and she pulled the window open. She stretched on leg over and looked over the edge. Their apartment was at least five stories about the ground. If she jumped, it would defiantly kill her. You'd have to be crazy to want to jump._

_But she was going crazy anyway. The only difference was she could end it here and now. What was a moment of excruciating pain compared to a lifetime of deep suffering? She swung her other leg over and sat on the window sill for a moment. This was wrong. She had so many other places that she wanted to be, so many that she wanted to see. She belonged somewhere else._

_She closed her eyes and smiled. The smile that linked her to Ollie. I could only imagine what she was thinking but I'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of 'At least this would wipe that smirk off their faces'. It was a small victory; and the only one she could lay claim to. _

_She pushed herself off the sill and fell from my view. This time, it wouldn't be a mistake. This time, she'd really be dead._

"Aster! Let go!" Zane jerked me away from the crystal ball. He had his arms wrapped firmly around my stomach as he freed me from the mental hell of Louisa's mind—or rather, her future.

I felt my muscles start to stiffen again; that same nauseating feeling washing over me and causing me to clasped to my knees, Zane helped me to the ground despite his obvious panic. "Hero, come on, please fight it. Every time you do this is; you increase your chances of going into a coma."

"The epi pen." I forced myself to say. He tried to argue it but I insisted. Finally he reached into his coat and pulled out a pen. I squeezed his free arm to get his attention. "In case…it doesn't work. You need to know…Louisa's going to escape."

"Just hang on, okay? You'll fine in a moment." Zane said, his voice becoming strained. He tried to reach for my pants but I stopped him with my other hand.

"You're not listening!" I screamed in a hoarse voice, putting all my strength behind that outburst. Zane looked at me conflicted and then wrapped his arms around me.

"Alright, alright tell me."

"Louisa's going to escape the car before the Duncan's can get to the airport—she's going to go to Ronny's apartment. But after awhile…."My mind drifted for a moment. I shook my head to bring it into focus mode. "After awhile, she's going to jump out the window and kill herself. If I don't get out of this you need to save her and save Sirena too…Stop those people so…."

My arms tensed over his and I started to curl up again. He shook me gently at first, and then harder. "Aster? Aster!" But I was too weak to fight it anymore. I gave myself to oblivion and could only hope that Zane could save them without me.


	11. The End of the Line

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Note: This is going to be a Zane dominated chapter (kind of like what I did last time with Aster while Zane was in his coma). As we near the finals chapters I have to ask kind of a survey question of how the story should end. Do you think the boys should get engaged at the end of the story? Or would that be contradicting to their personalities. Let me know what you think and as always, thanks!

Chapter 11: The End of the Line

**Zane's POV**

I thrusted the epi pen into his thigh through the jeans, exactly the way Ronny had showed me. I rubbed the injection spot carefully and held him in my arms; waiting for him to respond. I couldn't wait for long; we had to get to Louisa before she ended her own life.

My first priority was the young man in my arms, but Aster had given me clear orders. He didn't want me to worry myself with him; he wanted me to save Louisa and Sirena. But that was nearly impossible in my book; not while he was like this.

What was taking so long? It didn't take this long for the first dose to take effect. Was it wearing off on him already? Ronny had warned us that eventually the adrenaline wouldn't work but I was expecting more time in between. This couldn't have been the last one.

"Why are you still here?" I looked down to see Aster coming back to life. His muscles relaxed against mine and I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't going to lose him quite yet. "Well?"

I kissed the top of his head and smiled. "Sorry... "

"No you're not." He joked. He pulled my hands away weakly and turned. Without warning, he kissed me on the lips. This one was different though. He put all his power, want, and desires behind it and ravished my lips like a hungry man to bread. I placed my hands on his cheeks and deepened the kiss. I could never have enough of this kid. Even if I had fifty years, I'd want a hundred, and even with a hundred, I'd want a thousand. Being with him made me feel alive. His kisses renewed my heart more than any medicine could, and I wanted him to know that.

But now wasn't the time. He broke the kiss and smiled. "Don't you have a damsel to save?"

"Indeed I do."

()

I left Aster at home with Larius, Alexis and Atticus while Ronny, Sartorius, and I went to rescue Louisa. The window was limited all around, so I had Ronny drive the car to his apartment. When we arrived, Sartorius parked the car while Ronny and I made our way into the apartment. I jumped up the steps by threes, with Ronny right behind me.

When we arrive on the right floor, we saw the door to Ronny's apartment was open by a crack. "She's here…." He said in relief. My phone rang—I looked at the caller i.d.—it was from Sartorius.

"She's here." I answered.

He was silent for a moment. "So I can see."

Ronny pushed the door open and all the color drained from his face. I rushed over quickly and saw Louisa was sitting on the window sill. Ready to jump at her own will.

"Louisa! No!" Ronny screamed. She turned her head—her face tear-stained and desperate. I saw her push her hand against the window trim. Holy shit, she was going to do it.

Ronny crossed the room, fast as superman. Just as she was about to fall forward, Ronny wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her back up. Despite this, she fought against him, trying to push herself forward. "No! Just let me go! I can't escape them!"

I sped over and helped Ronny bring Louisa back through the window. She thrashed against us and screamed as loud as she could. She treated us more like murderers than her life savors. She tried to claw Ronny's face but he grabbed her wrist. "Damn it, Louisa, this isn't you!"

"What does it matter? What's left to live for when they're always going to loom over me? They'll never stop and this is the only way to end it!"

Ronny switched one of her wrists to his other hand. He used his newly freed hand to grab her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. "You sound just like Ollie the night I told him I was leaving…He thought killing himself would be the only way to beat them but it's not….You're just letting them control your life all the more." She still fought against him but Ronny held strong. "There was so much that he wanted to do with his life, so much you still have to do. And you're willing to throw that all away because of those god damn monsters? You're better than that!"

Louisa started crying again. Her head fell against Ronny's shoulder. He released her arms and wrapped them around her. Who would have thought that someone like Ollie could have brought two people together? Ronny had come to care for Louisa as his former love's sister. Now, it appeared as if he love Louisa as if she were his own sister.

Ronny stood up and offered a hand to Louisa. "Listen, we're going to tell the press everything, okay? Right now. They'll help keep your parents away from you and you'll be rid of them for good…Alright?"

Louisa wiped her eyes and smiled softly. "Okay…"

A gun-shot went off. The sound made me deaf for a split second but I could still see what had happened. The bullet imbedded the wall in front of Ronny. I thought it had missed him; but the horrified look on Louisa's face told me otherwise. I looked around and saw the shooter.

She was a woman no taller than 5,2. She was thin and bony like a small skeleton yet, appeared much younger than I knew her to be. Her black stringy hair was just as long as Louisa's, only it rounded into curls. I didn't need anyone to tell me that this was Caroline Duncan.

A small blood stain started to soak through Ronny's shirt. He fell back to his knees and onto Louisa who embraced him into her arms. I kept my gaze on the gun, prepared to move at any moment.

"Ronny! Ronny!" Louisa was screaming and sobbing again. Her mother rolled her eyes and lowered her gun.

"We should have done away with that roach a long time ago." She said, her eyes setting themselves on me. Her mouth turned to a scowl. "Well, well…If it isn't the famous Zane Truesdale. Tell me, have you put anyone else's son in the mental hospital lately?"

"He only did what you and dad were trying to do. It's a miracle Ollie didn't snap sooner!" Louisa yelled, suddenly daring to become more defiant. She gently lifted Ronny to the floor and stood up firm. She extended her hands out away from her body. "If you're so desperate to have me, then you'll have to kill me to do it. So come on and do it already!"

Caroline crossed the room and grabbed Louisa's wrist and jerked her forward. "Come on, I've had enough of your little games."

I reached out my wrist to grab Caroline's forcing her to let go of Louisa's. Caroline's eyes (oddly similar to Ollie's) seemed to burn a hole through me. "Where's Sirena?"

She raised her gun up; on the inside I felt a surge of fear go through me. But I remained still on the outside.

Caroline seemed to growl like a rabid dog. "Release me now. That's the only warning you'll get."

I swallowed my fear and asked a second time. Louisa eyes were set on the gun. I knew what she was thinking. It was too dangerous. If she tried to get the gun out of her mother's hands, it could go off and kill her. "Louisa, don't!"

I expected to hear a second gun shot. That either Louisa would fight and get shot by her mother, or Caroline would shot me. Instead, Caroline seemed frozen in her stance. Her face stood completely still in that same angry scowl.

"Thank god…" I twisted around to see Sartorius walking through the door. His purple eyes were glowing like nightlights. I felt a dark aura surround him, like I had felt at duel academy island when Sartorius was evil. That could only mean one thing; Sartorius had used his powers to save us. Powers he supposedly didn't have anymore.

His glowing eyes fell over Ronny. He leaned down to check his pulse. His face remained indifferent. "He's….he's dead."

Louisa already knew that was the case, but seemed to break down into sobs at the announcement. Even I felt a twinge of grief at the news. I wouldn't ever have declared Ronny and I to be friends—but everything he did was motivated by selflessness. His fondness of Ollie and Louisa had pushed him to put his medical license- and apparently his life on the line for her.

Sartorius handed Louisa his cell phone. "Call the ambulance, the police, anyone you can. I have something to try."

He stood up and looked Caroline in the eyes. He placed his hands on her cheek and concentrated all his energy on to her. I didn't understand what he was trying to do; only that he was using his powers again.

The room started to drop in temperature. At first, it only sent a small shiver down my back, eventually; it felt like I was swimming through ice water. I tried to bear through it while Sartorius worked his magic.

Caroline started to move slowly; I grabbed her before she could make any bold moves. Sartorius broke eye contact and breathed heavily. The room temperature started going back up. He glared at Caroline but spoke to me. "I know where Sirena is. We have to go now, we don't have much time. "

I nodded and looked to Louisa. "I want you to stay here and wait for the police." I said, apprehensive about leaving a nearly suicidal girl alone.

"I'll be fine, just go!" She insisted. I looked her over one more time. Did she look upset? Of course she did. Did I think she was going to jump out the window? No.

Sartorius and I forced the fighting Caroline down the stairs and into the car. A plan was formulating between us. Sartorius told me that Sirena was being kept at a near by mental hospital where Mr. Duncan had registered her under his daughters name. He explained that if Caroline didn't return within an hour, he was supposed to leave with Sirena to go to the airport. We had a short time to reach the mental hospital and save Sirena before she was gone.

A new hope renewed within me. With Ronny gone, I had only one hope of retrieving the medicine to save Aster—and I dared to hope I would find it at this mental institution.

()

This particular mental institution was a small house just outside of Domino. Caroline was completely annoying and unreasonable along the way. Blaming me for her distant daughter and insane son. Kicking Sartorius's seat and fighting me. "He'll let me die before he gives in to either of you."

"Yeah, sounds like a real catch." I murmured, holding the small woman closely.

"Zane, how partial are you to acting?" Sartorius asked from the front seat. I shrugged.

"I'm okay with it, not my strong suit." I was being a little more generous with myself than I should have been. I couldn't act my way out of a bag.

"Could you say, pretend to hold Mrs. Duncan here hostage while I controlled her mind?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You can do that too?"

"My powers have gotten stronger lately but…" He closed his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. "That's required me to give into my dark side at times. I'm almost afraid to test mind control but…I have to try in order to save my sister."

I knew Aster wouldn't like it if I let Sartorius do this. But in the mirror I could see the firm determination in his eyes. He was going to do it whether I approved or not.

I emptied Mrs. Duncan's gun onto the carpet and nodded. "Alright we can try it."

"If you think there's anyway...!" Caroline started but I interrupted, waving the gun around nonchalantly.

"Just be thankful I took the bullets out." I said coldly. I tried to get back into a personality that I had given up long ago. I wasn't evil enough to hold a woman at gunpoint, but Hell Kaiser was.

A line had been crossed. This was no time to play nicely. Sirena had been kidnapped and Ronny had been shot dead. Aster had been practically poisoned, and Louisa almost killed herself. These people had to be stopped, even if that meant being a little evil to do it. It was the only thing that could be done.

I had to stop Orville Duncan sr. and save the lives of Sirena, Louisa, and the love of my life.


	12. Inside the Darkness

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

Chapter 12: Inside the Darkness

**Aster's POV**

I felt completely useless watching the news and waiting for anything about Louisa, Zane, or the Duncan's. Especially knowing that any passing moment could be my last conscious one. With Zane off saving lives, I was finally allowed a moment think about my life.

If I didn't get the antidote, my life would be essentially over. I've done many things in my life but I was far from satisfied. There were a lot of countries I had yet to visit and lots of people I still needed to duel. I had always hoped to start my own business; maybe get a few more PhD's. Some how, staring at my own mental mortality made me feel guilty over all the wasted time. Well—not all wasted.

My most inactive months were the one's I spent with Zane. Time I could have been alone— planning trips or going to school. And that didn't sound like a bad option; but I had wanted this relationship more than any of that. Being with Zane reminded me of what I've missed out in so many years since my dad died. I missed having someone there to take care of me when I needed it, and I missed having someone who needed me around too. For the longest time, all I ever wanted was to get through this life alone, learn to live without my father and any one else for that matter. Now, I wanted to live my life to the fullest; and I wanted to do that with Zane.

"Hey look! Larius turn it up!" Alexis jumped to life suddenly. Larius took the remote and turned up the t.v. There was something on there about a seventeen year old girl being kidnapped by her own parents.

"Seventeen year old Louisa Evelina Duncan, younger sister of former pro duelist, Ollie Duncan, called the police this evening to report her kidnapping and a man's homicide against her own mother, Caroline Marie Duncan."

My heart stopped. Homicide?... What if it was Zane? Or Sartorius? Larius looked frighten; I knew he was venturing the same thoughts. "Mrs. Duncan, when found, will be charged with the kidnapping of her daughter, Louisa, a girl only known as Sirena, and for the murder of Dr. Bryon Wyatt Francis. We'll keep you posted as we keep a close eye on the story."

So it was Ronny who died tonight. A terrible sense of relief and sadness washed over me. I didn't know Ronny well enough to remember him fondly—only that he had tried his best to help Louisa escape a bad situation. The relief was worse than the sadness; I knew it was wrong to be happy someone was dead and I wasn't really happy Ronny died. I was just happy it wasn't Zane or my dear friend, Sartorius.

But nothing had been reported on them—they must have reached Louisa in time, if she was able to press charges but they were there at the scene. Nor was Mrs. Duncan appearently. This could mean a variety of things; most of them unappealing.

"Sirena's still out there?" Alexis asked breaking the long silence. She tilted her head down, trying to hide the tears forming at her eyes. It didn't work. "She wouldn't be gone if it wasn't for me. How could I have let this happen?"

"You're not responsible for the Duncan's actions, Lex." Atticus said, pulling Alexis into an embrace.

"And it's not your fault Sirena didn't handle the rejection well." I threw in. I'm sure that's what she must have been feeling. I felt the same way after I rejected Sartorius. But he ended up happier for it. If I had accepted his infatuation, he wouldn't be with Larius right now and I wouldn't have had Zane.

Alexis looked up and gave me a confused look. "Is….is that what it looked like?"

Wait, she didn't turn Sirena down. "I thought you turned her down and that's why she ran away."

"No, well….not exactly anyway. I didn't know what to say." Alexis explained. "She never gave me the chance to say whether or not I was interested. She automatically assumed I said no."

So, this whole Sirena-getting-kidnapped-and-I-getting-poisoned scenario might have been avoidable? A misunderstanding might have been the real reason behind Sirena's epic emotions? That wasn't exactly comforting at the moment.

I wanted to know what the true answer was, but there were more important things on my mind. Zane had gone off to save Sirena; so now I had to complete Louisa's rescue.

"Can someone drive me to Ronny's apartment?"

()

Atticus volunteered to drive me (he was the only one who knew where it was). When we got there, it was over run by busy police men and yellow tape. Apparently, the whole apartment had been sectioned off for investigation. "I'm going to go find out about Ronny…"

I nodded, allowing Atticus to go and work through his own grief. I scanned the area, looking

Louisa was sitting on a ground, leaning against a trash can. Her appearance was contradicting in so many ways. On the outside, she looked perfectly fine. Her clothes had splatters of blood on them and her hair was messy and tangled, but she looked alive and well. Her emotions however; said something else completely.

Her face was still and frozen like ice. Her eyes were wide and drained of any real color and life. Her mouth was pressed shut, as if to keep the events of the night locked away. She didn't look like a seventeen year old girl; she resembled an ancient artifact or an elderly statue. Forever bearing the same, horrified look.

I walked up and sat next to her, forcing myself to be friendly with her. I found it hard to believe that while she was suffering, I could still bare my old feelings. Maybe I wouldn't be willing to forgive her until I knew Zane was safe. "I saw the news and I came to get you."

"I'm not leaving without him." She retorted in an even, dead, voice.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around my knees. "Take it from someone who refused to believe that someone they cared about was dead- he's not in there, and he wouldn't want you feeling guilty about what happened."

"Guilty? That doesn't even begin to describe it." She turned her head slowly to me, forcing me to look at her cold, unfeeling eyes. "I'm the one who should be dead, yet somehow I'm the one who survived."

"Ronny made it so you could survive. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Look at all the good that did him." Louisa spat sarcastically. She looked forward again. "Look at all that I've done and tell me how I'm any better than _them_. I blackmailed two men into helping me, I destroyed the corpse of a woman who didn't even have a name, I've brought more people into this than I ever should have, and now I've killed the only person who might have given half a damn about me. I deserve to be with my parents."

"Yeah, keep talking like that, that's sure to bring Ronny back right away." Louisa gave me the first real sign of emotion I've seen from her that night. Anger. She growled and started to hiss. "Do you think Zane would have come to save you if he didn't care about you? Or do you think Ronny would have brought you all the way to Japan if he never cared?"

"It's only because I threatened to incriminate him!"

"Ronny did it because he loved Ollie!" I snapped suddenly. Louisa tried to go back to her indifferent shell, but it was too late. Her face was covered with shock and anguish. "He knew what your parents did to your brother and didn't want you to face the same fate. Ronny saved a lot more than your life tonight and he did it because he loved him- and by extension, he loved you too."

She let the information soak in. Her face contorted to stop herself from crying again, by some miracle, she had managed to push her grief back. "Even if…Ronny didn't want me to blame myself for what happened. How could I not?"

"You teach yourself not to….Over time, you'll start to see what really happened and you'll realize that it wasn't your fault. In the mean time you just…learn to live with it and lead your life the way he would have wanted—free."

"Louisa…" Atticus said gently. We were both startled by him but I expected her to look at him in disgust like she had before. She retained her indifference. "They're going to bring him out…do you want to say goodbye."

She nodded slowly and extended her hand. Atticus helped her up. I watch them walk away with Louisa turning to give me one last look. She'd be okay—eventually, she would anyway. It'd take months, maybe years but she would be fine.

I started to feel sick again—I was going comatose again. Perhaps permanently this time. It filled me with sadness to think I may never wake up again. That I may never know if Sirena made it out okay, or even if I'd ever see her or Sartorius again. I may never get to see Jaden and Jesse's wedding and all the other weddings among our friends. I may never again see my dad's ring, speaking to me in a dead language.

I may never see Zane again; and that thought hurt more than anything. The only relief that came with my muscles becoming still and my mind departing into the great unknown, was that I had at least kissed him one last time.

**Zane's POV**

I dragged the sleeping Mrs. Duncan's body through the mental institution as we searched for her husband. Sartorius followed close behind me, but remained in the shadows to retain the element of surprise. So far, Sartorius had managed to push Caroline to sleep, telling me that when she woke up, she'd be under his control. His job would be to keep her that way; mine would be to convince her husband that I would kill her if he didn't give us Sirena.

Sartorius stopped suddenly. I stopped and moved my pupils so I could see him without giving away my front. Sartorius placed a hand on his head and scowled—must have been one hell of headache.

He pointed towards the hallway at the right. I didn't argue it, I followed through, thinking maybe one of his psychic powers were picking up on his sister's location.

Caroline started to stir in my arms. My shoulders tense as I prepared to handle her in her awake form. He wasn't supposed to set her off until we had a more convenient moment. "Sirena's sending me messages; I can't keep her asleep and listen to them…" He explained quickly but quietly.

She picked up her head and started to scream. I placed a hand over her mouth. "Shit….alright, I guess it's show time. Where is she?"

"Right there…." He pointed to a room in the middle of the left side of the hallway. I took a deep breath and nodded. I readjusted my grasp on Caroline and moved forward. To me, it felt like I was about to enter through the gates of hell. The only difference was, I stood a chance of coming out. The logical part of my brain reminded me that I could die in there just as easily as Ronny had at his apartment.

Too much was on the line—Sartorius's sister was still in danger and Aster needed the antidote. This was a risk I couldn't avoid. I had to do it or die trying.

I kicked open the door, ready to put on a gun waving performance. But the only person I saw in there was Sirena. Both of her hands handcuffed to a furnace—her eyes covered with an odd looking bandana.

"Sirena, hold on. I'll be there in a moment."

"And let the games end?" Hearing that voice almost made me believe that Ollie was back again. It was almost terrifying how much this man sounded like his son (or rather the other way around). But this wasn't the critically mad Ollie Duncan. Oh no, this man had a type of madness all his own.

The tall yet large Orville Duncan I appeared from the shadows. Besides his hair color and height, he bared almost no physical resemblance to Ollie or Louisa. Mr. Duncan had a long, stringy beard that covered up the fact that his neck was invisible. His black hair was reseeding quickly away from his forehead as he grinned. I was surprised to see that this smile reminded me neither of Ollie or Louisa, but just instilled a general sense of fear. It didn't go past my attention, that this man was missing one or two teeth.

I tried to imagine having this man stand over you with a raised fist. I wondered what it would have been like to have this man screaming and 'punishing' you almost everyday. Trying to make you into something great and powerful. It was easy to imagine. He was scary. He made you intimidated just with a toothy smile. I couldn't see a full man challenging him, let alone two children.

Caroline shook her head to get rid of my hand. She yelled to her husband. "Orville! Please help me!"

He laughed, clearly amused at his wife's misfortune. It vaguely reminded me of Ollie's tone that day in the locker room. "Well, I've heard many things about Sirena's family powers, but to make Caroline act like this?"

"I'll kill her." I said, keeping the shaky fear away from my voice. I pressed the gun against her temple and dared him to challenge it. "I'll do it if you don't let Sirena go."

"You know, you don't have to pretend you're all alone. Why don't you invite Mr…What's his name? Soren….Salvador…No, Sartorius! That's it. Sartorius into the room with us?"

I remained cool, trying to pass it off as if he had made a miscalculation. Sartorius remained outside in the hall, hoping for the same thing. Orville rolled his eyes. "So, we're going to play this way then? Alright…."

He pulled a syringe out of his pocket and showed it to me. My arm tightened around Caroline's stomach. Why else would he show it to me unless….That was the antidote to 322XOV. He removed the cap and walked over to Sirena. What the hell was he doing? I turned my gun towards him; hoping he would stop. He didn't. He forced her arm straight and aimed it at her vein.

"Sartorius!" Sirena screamed, Orville squeezed and jerked her wrist.

"This- is the antidote known as 509XOV. And while it can cure a person who has been injected with 322XOV, it also has the power to send someone into cardiac arrest if they don't have 322XOV in their systems. So why don't we put down our guns and play nicely...Before someone get's the wrong medicine."

Completely out of options, I threw the empty gun to the floor. Caroline Duncan was still just as tense.

"Come out Sartorius…" I said softly. "It's over."

Sartorius shuffled into the room; he looked as grim as if he were facing his death. Orville smiled. "Good, good…Now we're getting somewhere…Now then, what did you do to my wife?"

"I hypnotized her." Sartorius admitted freely. "Please…just let my sister go."

"How about you un-hypnotize her first?" Orville suggested. Sartorius was reluctant to follow his orders. Orville pressed the needle gently, causing it to prick Sirena's skin. Sartorius waved his hand and freed Caroline's mind.

She took a deep breath like she had been drowning. Much to my amazement, she started to thrash harder. "Orville, shoot this basturd! Shoot him now!"

"I kept my end of the deal, now free my sister!"

Orville Duncan laughed and reached back into his pocket. My eyes widened; not too long ago, I had watched as his wife shot and killed an innocent man. I wasn't going to let anyone else die.

"Wait…" I spoke suddenly. A plan forming very quickly in my head. "Let's do an exchange. I'll give you your wife, if you give me Sirena… I'll even come over there."

Sartorius gave me an off look but Orville seemed genuinely intrigued. I was putting myself in danger—something that appealed to him. After all, I was the one who named his son as my attacker. As far as he was concerned, I was the reason Ollie went insane.

He nodded. "Alright, bring her over." He pulled the gun out of his pocket and pointed it at me. "Just don't pull anything funny."

"I swear." I promised. Sartorius kept a weary eye on me, getting ready to retaliate if necessary. Good.

I walked forward slowly, pressing Caroline forward. Orville pulled Sirena out of her handcuffs and pushed his gun against her temple. She bit her lip fearfully as we continued the exchange.

He extended a hand forward. "My wife first…"

"Sure." I nodded. By this time, he became suspicious of my motives. It was now or never. I had to act.

I threw Caroline against Sirena and reached for Orville's wrist. Before he could react, I grabbed his other wrist—knocking his hand against the furnace. After two or three knocks, he released the gun and it slide across the room. Orville then pushed his weight on to me, forcing my hands down.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caroline and Sartorius reach for the gun. Caroline managed to grab it first and point it towards me. Sartorius grabbed on to her, but her arm was still steady. The gun fired.

Before the bullet could strike, a barrier deflected it. I looked to see that Sirena had uncovered her eyes and used her powers to block the bullet. Sartorius wrestled with Caroline who shot her gun like a maniac—Sirena continued to block the bullets.

It was only me and Orville. His monster hands left marks on my wrist. I grunted in pain and tried to fight him off.

I needed one hand free for this to work. I felt the epi pen in my pocket against my stomach. The last one Ronny had given me. It was as if he knew exactly how many I needed. Like he was helping Louisa from the grave.

Orville smiled and released my one of my hands. In mere seconds, he retrieved 509XOV and held it above my head. He gathered all of his strength; ready to plunge the syringe down. My free hand reached into my pocket and tore the cap off of the epi pen. "May you one day see my daughter in hell…"

I moved my head just as he thrusted the medicine down. By some miracle, the syringe had missed me. Instead, the needle broke against the tile. Nothing could get in or out.

While he got over his disbelief, I pushed the epi pen into his thigh. He looked down to see just what had happened and frowned. I couldn't help the smile that grew across my lips. I injected the adrenaline into his bloodstream and waited for it to take effect.

"I'll see you there." I whispered. His breathing became rough and he reached for his chest. I pushed him off of me and backed away, grabbing the broken syringe of 509XOV along the way. Caroline Duncan screamed and threw her emptied gun at me. It just barely missed me. The older woman had become hysteric.

"I'll go call an ambulance, and the police." Sirena said. I sighed a heavy breath of relief. This ordeal was over—finally.

Maybe not, I reminded myself, clutching the vile in my hand. I got up quickly and turned to Sartorius. "Do you have her under control?"

"We're fine…Just go, hurry!"

I nodded my thanks and took off. Just as I had reached Sartorius's car, my phone vibrated. I almost didn't look but second nature too over. I'm glad it did; it was Louisa.

I answered it. "It's over….We stopped your parents and freed Sirena. You won't have to worry about them ever again."

"They are?" She muttered into the phone. Her voice made it sound like she was afraid to believe. "Thank god…But… Aster's at the hospital… He was just—unresponsive when we found him…"

My heart sank. Please god, don't let it be too late.

()

Louisa, Atticus, and I were watching closely as the doctor added 509XOV to Aster's IV. Louisa took my hand into hers and squeezed it tight. Reminding me that she was there with me.

The doctor took away the syringe and turned to us. "We'll know if it works in a few minutes. I'll come back to check on him shortly." But I heard the sound of his voice. _Don't bet on this working. You have a better chance of being struck by lighting. _I ignored the doctor's obvious hopelessness and allowed him to leave.

Atticus leaned forward to speak around Louisa. "Aster's been to hell and back so many times, Zane. If anyone can pull through this, it's him."

Though I appreciated the sentiment, it did little to change my mood. "Could…Could I just have a minute, please?"

"Sure, anything you want buddy." Atticus and Louisa stood up. Atticus reached the door when Louisa faced me.

"I just wanted to say….thank you. Thank you for everything." She said sincerely to me. Her voice was far from pain-free, but I knew that she was healing. Her voice carried a new fire that burned brighter than ever.

I couldn't celebrate that now. I was too overcome with grief. I simply nodded and let her leave with Atticus. At least this time he wasn't so tense. He actually looked pretty relaxed, lying in the hospital bed. I wondered if the doctor had given him something to release his muscles—I didn't know; I was just happy he had some relief.

I stood up and walked to his bed side, putting his hand in mine. I didn't stop to think as I started to speak. "You know, it doesn't matter if you spend the rest of your life wide and awake or sleeping soundly like this— I still love you more than I could love another person… If you don't wake up from this, I'm not sure what I would do."

My free hand landed on my chest. "The pills Ronny gave me—they must have helped my heart. Last time I thought I had lost you, I nearly keeled over. But this time—it just hurts a lot. I feel like my heart is breaking inside my chest and its pure agony."

Tears started to run down m face. I let them fall—I was in no condition to stop them. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe. The pain in my chest and the tears on my face would be enough alone to kill me. "You can't ask me to spend the rest of my life alone—you can't do this to me! Don't you get it? There is nothing after you. It's not like with Atticus where eventually I healed. I need you in my life or I have no life! So I'm begging you…don't leave me alone."

I sighed. I was talking to air. I took the ring off my finger and placed it into his palm. I closed it slowly and leaned over to kiss him. First one on the forehead—then as I touched my forehead to his, I planted one on his lips. I wanted to stay like this forever. Just to kiss him and never leave again. But my need for air pulled me away from him. I stepped back into the chair and cried.

"Z…Zane?" My head snapped up. Aster turned his head weakly. His blue eyes were heavy-lidded, but a frown crept up across his face. "What happened?...E…Everyone made it okay right?"

I could hardly contain my joy. I got up and walked over to his bedside. A smile spread across my face and I embraced him. He didn't know how to respond at first, but eventually, he welcomed my embrace.

"Everything's fine now." I told him, wiping my tears against his hospital gown. I laughed gently and put my hand over his; the one with the ring in it. "Everything's going to be fine."

One more chapter left! Thanks so much for everyone's kind words and encouragement! Whenever this story has hit a rough patch (and believe me, there's been plenty) you all have kept me going. Thanks for everything!


	13. Give

Give and Receive

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh Gx or its characters. Just my own :)

Plot Summary- As Zane's 22nd birthday is approaching, he starts becoming secretive around Aster. Is he unhappy about the relationship? Or is it something else completely.

**Quick Warning! Lemon in this chapter!**

Chapter 13: Give

**Zane's POV**

About two weeks later, I drove Louisa to the airport to return to England. Her parents were facing trial there and Ronny's funeral was to take place there. I had offered to fly to England with her but she turned it down multiple times.

"I'll be okay; I guess I just have to get use to doing things on my own." She said as we walked through the terminal. Despite everything she was going through, Louisa carried herself with pride. She had grown up over this whole experience. "Besides, I'm pretty sure if you bailed out on dinner with Aster, he'd get mad."

"That's true." I said. Besides, I had some pretty big plans of my own for tonight. "So, what are you going to do once you get to England?"

Louisa shrugged and reached into her purse to receive her boarding pass. "Ronny's mom practically begged me to come stay with her after she found out who I was. I wouldn't have accepted but I really have no where else to go so…maybe this is my own little chance of redemption…After the trial and my emancipation—I could go anywhere really. I'm thinking of joining the European Duel League under my true name. Maybe work my way back into the Pro Leagues."

"Well, maybe we'll see each other again than." I said with a friendly smile.

"Maybe…"

_"Attention Passengers flight 62 is now boarding." _Louisa looked to her boarding pass.

"That's my flight…I guess this is goodbye." Much to my surprised, she flanged herself into my arms. Her cheek touched mine as she embraced me. I didn't fight it; I wrapped my arms around her.

I never thought in a million years I'd be standing in an airport, hugging Ollie's sister. Life just had a way of pulling little surprised over you I guess. Truth be told, after everything we went through together and everything she had to face on her own; I respected Louisa. I was proud that she was facing her demons on her own now. I was happy she was free to live her life as she chose to.

She released me from her grip and smiled at me. This time, I didn't see Ollie or any of the other Duncan's. I saw Evelyn Francis for the first time in weeks. Eager to be my apprentice; happy for a new opportunity.

But that was never Evelyn Francis. Somewhere inside, that had always been Louisa Duncan.

"Let's me know how the trial goes…You have my mailing address." She laughed full-heartedly.

"I will….thank you." She whispered. I watched as she walked away. She disappeared into the crowd in a matter of moments. I would miss her. I knew that she wasn't out of my life for good. In fact, I had probably found a friend for life in her. The goodbye was surprisingly bitter-sweet. I was sad to see her go, but I knew this wouldn't be the last time I'd see Louisa Duncan.

In the meantime, I had one stop to make before I returned home to my boyfriend.

()

When I opened the door to the apartment, Aster was sitting with Sirena and Alexis. I closed the door, letting everybody know I was home.

"Hey Zane." Alexis said happily. Her hand was on top of Sirena's. And I smiled. The minute Alexis saw Sirena she had welcomed her with a kiss. Since then, the two had been inseparable. Sirena's entire attitude towards me had changed. While before, she had tolerated me, she now treated me with the upmost respect. She bowed her head politely. "We were just coming by to see how Aster was doing before you guys left on your hot date."

"Yeah okay." Aster said sarcastically. His face told me another thing completely. I think he had a lot of ideas about just how 'hot' tonight was going to be. "Well, I guess I'll see you both later then...Thanks again, Alexis!"

Sirena and Alexis stood up together; I noticed Alexis held a pair of jeans around her arm. Oh wow…really?

"Anytime…We'll see you guys later." Sirena entwined her arm with Alexis's and they left the apartment. After the ladies left; I gave Aster an accusing grin.

"Borrowed huh?" He leaned back in his chair; looking ever cool and relaxed.

"You said you wanted to see me in girl's clothes—for god knows what reason. And since I know Alexis and I wear a similar size…Well, you know." He explained. "I did have to buy her a new pair though—the epi pen ripped a hole in them."

He pushed himself onto his feet and walked over to me. His arms wrapped around me as he spoke seductively. "I have the picnic basket packed, and an overnight bag too….I can't wait for dinner tonight."

I kissed his cheek and held him close. "Neither can I."

()

The lake was completely quiet besides the two of us. It meant so much to us that it only made sense to come here to celebrate. The dawn was setting behind the cabin Aster kept as our get-a-way spot. This was exactly how I wanted my birthday to be. Quiet, secluded, and just the two of us.

"Where did you get this wine?" I asked. Swirling the wine around in my glass. Aster shrugged.

"I just found it lying around the apartment. It is pretty good, isn't it?" He took another sip of the wine. His lips tinted a light red from it.

"You're not going to get drunk on me again are you?"

"It wasn't my plan." Aster licked his lips slowly and smiled. "But the night is young."

I laughed and rubbed my thumb over his lips. Getting the wine he didn't get off his lips. "I'd like you to remain sober. At least for now… I have something to show you."

I reached into my pocket—Aster leaned forward with interest. I took out the empty, un-labeled bottle that once contained the pills Ronny gave to me. Aster raised an eyebrow, confused by the meaning of it. "How did you get that?"

"Atticus gave it to me." I explained. "I haven't thought about them in over week. I think I'm completely done with them now."

Aster seemed genuinely happy with the statement. "That's great. I'm very proud of you."

I tossed him the bottle. "You don't seem very proud."

"I am." He assured. "Just really confused…why would you need me sober for this?"

He shook the bottle and heard a light rattling noise. He glanced at the bottle and back to me. "You stopped taking them with only one pill left?"

"Really now?" I pretended to be surprised, trying my best not to give it away. "Are you sure it's only one?"

He rolled his eyes. "I can hear, you know…"

To prove his point, he opened the lid and spilled the contents into his palm. His eyes widened upon the discovery that there were no pills in the bottle.

A ring glimmered in his palm. The band was silver with two metal vines wrapping around the outside. Near the top, there were three diamonds—the one in the middle being the biggest of them all. Aster felt the metal gently, testing to see if it was really there.

"What is this?" He said. Sounding more hectic than anything else. I chuckled and picked up the ring.

"This was the ring my father used to propose to my mother…They gave it to me when I graduated from duel academy and told me to use it to ask the one I loved to marry me. It's been at the jeweler getting resized."

"Zane, you better not be…"

I didn't let him finish. I brought myself up so that I was on one knee. Aster hand shook as I held it in my own hand. Now came the hard part; trying not to sound sappy. "Aster, despite everything that's happened since we've been together— you've made me happier than I've ever thought I could be…. I never thought in a million years I'd be doing this but—you've made me do a lot of things I never thought I would do." So much for that. Might has well let it all pour out now.

"If this…isn't what you want, than I'll understand. As long as you still love me, than I can take anything you throw at me. But it would be a great honor...if you allowed me to be your husband." I squeezed his hand gently, forcing myself to say the actual words I wanted to say. "Aster, will you marry me?"

By the look on his face, I could have sworn he was going to say no. I was mentally preparing myself for the rejection when, yet again, he surprised me.

"Well, why the hell not?" Aster said, still reeling from the disbelief of it. Excitement exploded through me. "Yes, Zane, I will marry you."

I looked at him in shock before sliding the ring onto his finger. It fit like a glove; like it belonged there. He held his hand up to look at the ring and chocked on his laugh. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Same here." I said. I looked into his blue eyes before bringing him in for an embrace. My fingers trailed his back as we enjoyed the moment. "I love you so much…"

"I love you too." We faced each other. The familiar heat that he inspired grew between us. My desire flourished and I felt an irresistible need. I had to show this boy just how much he meant to me. Right here—right now.

**Aster's POV**

My back fell against the picnic blanket as he devoured my lips in a slow sensual manner. My body was vibrating with desire as he pressed his lower body against mine. I heaved a deep sigh and ground my body up against his.

He placed his hands on both sides of my hips. He rubbed up against me, mimicking the slow thrusts of love making. This sent my mind into a frenzy of pleasure and imagination. I nibbled on his ear to release some of the building excitement.

Zane's hands worked to unbutton my jacket; he slipped it off my shoulders and set it aside. My shirt was off very shortly after—to which he moved down to nuzzle my chest.

"To think I almost lost all of this…" He whispered, diving his tongue out to tease my right nipple. The sensation shot up my spine, but what he said did take away from it.

"Don't talk like that. I'm here now and the rest doesn't matter." Zane's mouth latched on and sucked gently. I found myself inadvertently backing away, finding the sensation too much to handle. He refused to release me and if anything, sucked harder.

He gently bit down with his teeth and let go. "It matters to me. I would have lost my mind…You can't expect me to ignore that."

He gave my left nipple the same treatment. My breaths became heavy and just like that, it didn't matter what he was saying. "I…I guess I can't….I just don't like…Dwelling on it…" A loud moan escaped my lips as I grabbed at his t-shirt. I had to tug on it several times before he finally let go. I tore the shirt over his head and stroked his cheek.

His hands seemed to have a filthy little mind of their own. He was fumbling as he pulled at my belt buckle. It separated, and he concentrated on unbuttoning and unzipping my pants next. My heart beat faster in anticipation as his hand dived under both my pants and boxers. The air was knocked out of me when his hand wrapped themselves around my member.

"Ah, oh god…" I whimpered. My fingers wrapped themselves in the blanket. Zane smirked at my reaction and released his grip for a spilt second. His hand renewed its touch again, the sensation stronger and harder than the first one.

He started slow and gentle at first; as he always did when we made love. My body could only lie in shock, allowing the pleasure to overcome me each time. Eventually, his strokes became faster and my cries grew louder. A hard pressure started to build in my stomach. The contradicting feeling of wanting to be rid of it and never wanting it to go away set it.

Zane dug his teeth into my neck. I arched against him—feeling myself close to my release. "I…I…mmm."

I felt him smile against my neck and suddenly his hand stopped. My body screamed with sexual frustration. He couldn't do this to me. Not when I needed it so bad. I whined and trusted against his hand. He chuckled and moved to the waistband of my boxers and pants—he pulled them down in one swift move.

"Sorry hero….But I need to make this last a little bit longer." He unbuckled and pulled his own pants and underwear down. Leaving it aside with my things. He trailed a finger against my lips. I opened my mouth and let them enter. This part I could have easily gone without, except that we had no convenient lubricant outside and going inside the cabin just seemed like too much trouble right now. I sucked on his figures slowly and seductively, moving my tongue up and down against them. He tensed his body to fight off his more primal urges and pulled his fingers away. "God, the things you do to me…"

Zane's hands moved lower again, this time he gently fingered my entrance. He pushed one finger through and the uncomfortable, painful feeling struck me. This was probably the second hardest part about our love making. I always manage to push through though, and by the time he adds a second finger, the action is pleasurable.

He pushes his fingers in and out and scissors to make it stretch. I leaned my forehead against his shoulder and moaned quietly. When his hands retreated away, he replaced them with his own length. His hand wrapping under my knee and bringing it up so he would have easier access. His upper body was partially against mine as he leaned down to kiss me deeply on the lips.

"I love you…" He murmured against my lips. He always did. As if to apologize for the pain he was about to inflict. Sure enough, when his member entered my body, a surge of pain started to break me. Tears prickled at my eyes, and I bit my lip. Determined to deal with this like a man.

He bestowed kisses on my cheek, lips, and forehead. In between each one, he released low and animal-like grunts, as if to acknowledge that he too was in pain—be at that a different kind of pain. He held back against his own desires to make me comfortable. Showing me that while his body needed the sweet release only mine could give him; he cared much more about me than he did about reaching that high.

I moved against him; knowing the pain wasn't going to go away if we just waited. He started with slow, torturing thrusts. My hands landed on the back, holding on for life as we made love.

The emotions added to the fire as he started to thrust harder. My moans started to ring louder, harmonizing with his. The scene to anyone else might have been a disgusting, sweaty mess—to me, it was wonderful. It stole my breath away. I could never get enough of this. I wanted it to last forever.

But it was hard to hold on; especially he started stroking me again. I dug my nails into his back and released with his name trembling off my lips. The pleasure touched every part of my body. Making each part quiver and shake with the power of an earthquake and a hurricane all at once. When I felt him release inside me, I scratched down his back to keep myself together.

He made a whined a sweet sound before clasping on top of me. Both of us were panting and completely out of breath as we came back to reality. "Could…you…get off…of me?"

"Depends." He said with a sexy growl. He brushed the hair away from my sweat drenched face. "Think you could take your nails out of my back?"

"Oh yeah, sorry!" I retracted my claws away from his back and he moved to the side. Hissing when he laid on his back. My nails were bloodstained at the tips—well; I guess that's just how good he was.

I tried to hide the embarrassed look on my face and grabbed a napkin and bottled water from the basket. I poured the water into the napkin and started cleaning out under my nails. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I hardly even noticed them… I just trimmed my nails today…."

He chuckled lightly and looked up to the sky. Watching the sky as it faded in the sunset. "Don't worry about it…I'm sure after all the times we've made love, I owe you one."

"Sure, you that you want to marry me?" I joked; making sure no blood was on my ring. It was completely untouched by the crimson liquid. I wiped the napkin over it for good measure.

"Yes." He said quickly and sternly. He looked to me seriously despite my humor about the situation. "Aster, in your words exactly, we've been to hell and back together. I'm not about to throw the best thing that's ever happened to me away because of a few scratches."

Once all the blood was cleaned off, I tossed the napkins into the basket. "I know Zane, I know…But we don't necessarily need a wedding to prove that… I was going to spend the rest of my life with you anyway."

There was a deeper truth behind my fears. I loved Zane; that was unquestionable. And the part about me spending the rest of my life with him wasn't a lie. I really did want that. And as much as I wanted a family, there was another part that didn't want to consider the idea.

I saw my father's ring on Zane's finger. I had made a promise long ago that no one would take my father's place. I could surround myself with male-role models and pretend siblings, but I would never love any of them like I did my dad. In my mind, it would always be my father and I against the world and no one else.

I hadn't thought that way in months. Not since Zane entered my life. We had stood up against countless obstacles. And hesitantly—I could admit that I loved him as much as my father. They were two very different types of love but I felt as if I could never choose between the two. And I felt guilty for it.

Most of all, I was just afraid of losing what made me who I was. I was willing to give a lot up for Zane, but my independence wasn't one of them. No man was worth that. But he would never ask that of me—nor would he ever ask me to choose between him and my father. Zane accepted me for who I was.

He shrugged. "I told you, I'd still love you if you didn't want to, and I meant it … It just…Kind of feels right. Like—making it official is the next logical step."

I guess in a way getting married to Zane didn't mean I'd stop living my own life. Maybe it just meant I was sharing it with him. It would be nice to have a complete family again. A husband to come home to after a long day. Someone who had a relation to me beyond a friendship. That idea appealed to me.

"Well, if we're going to get married, I guess we should get an actual house too, or at least a bigger apartment—maybe a penthouse." I said, lying down and cuddling closer to him. "And I don't want anything big or overdone. Just us, and our friends and family."

He rubbed my shoulder. "Sounds good to me."

"But I want our wedding to be different, completely original you know? But…it should still be classy?"

"How about we try a night of being engaged before we plan the wedding?"

"It's your idea." We smiled at each other. I was started to enjoy the excitement and joy of it all. So, we were going to do it. We were going to get married. In an undetermined amount of time, we'd be each other's husbands.

And who knew what the future held for us? Zane would probably spend at least a year of his life searching for a new profession and I would further my own dueling career. Maybe we'd get a chance to do a little travelling and see the places I wanted to see. Maybe we'd stay in Japan for awhile and relish in my new position as Zane's future husband. We had the power to do anything we wanted.

And we could always be sure of one thing; we'd always have each other.

And that's the end of Give and Receive! Thanks again to all the readers and reviewers who kept this story going. At the moment, I am unsure of if there will be another sequel, a different set of stories, or perhaps even a prequel? (Atticus and Zane's story perhaps). I do plan to write a story about Zane and Aster's wedding, whether that will be extended into a full-out story or a one-shot. I've yet to decide.

Thanks again! :)


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